Reflections in a Golden Eye is a 1941 fictional novel written by American novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer Carson McCullers. The book is actually rather short, which is why many readers agree that it may be considered a novella. The story was originally published in 1940, in the American women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. McCullers actually wrote the novel under a different title—Army Post, mainly because the story is set in a Georgian military base, in the 1930s.

As homosexuality is one of the main themes of the novel, Reflections in a Golden Eye was considered highly controversial at the time it was published, and gained a lot of negative reviews, both from readers and professional literary critics alike. It did, however, gain some positive reviews as well, mostly because of McCullers’ well-constructed language.

McCullers dedicated the story to her friend, Swiss writer, journalist, photographer, and traveler Annemarie Schwarzenbach.

The novel has a somewhat complicated plot and it focuses on several characters, who might be considered the main protagonists of the story. First, there is Captain Weldon Penderton—a closeted homosexual who seems to have an aggressive and violent nature; then, we have his wife—Leonora, who’s presented as a serial adulterer, and her husband knows that she is cheating on him, but chooses not to say anything about it; Leonora is involved with Major Morris Langdon, who lives with his neurotic wife Alison and a homosexual houseboy of Filipino origin named Anacleto; and finally, there is Private Ellgee Williams, a voyeuristic man who becomes obsessed with Captain Penderton’s wife, and the Captain, in turn, becomes obsessed with him. It is a story of various romantic and sexual obsessions and desires, and the end result is murder, miscommunication and mystery.

In 1967, American director John Huston directed and produced a movie based on the novel, starring Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Harris, Brian Keith, and Robert Forster. Unfortunately, similarly to the book itself, the film received poor reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office.