The Temple

by George Herbert

The Temple is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Stephen Spender, sometimes labelled a bildungsroman because of its explorations of youth and first love. It was written after Spender spent his summer holiday in Germany in 1929 and recounts his experiences there. It was not completed until the early 1930s. Due to its frank depictions of homosexuality, The Temple was not published in Britain until 1988, twenty-one years after the decriminalisation of homosexuality.