The Well Of Loneliness

This early work by Radclyffe Hall was originally published in 1928 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Well of Loneliness' is a novel that follows an upper-class Englishwoman who falls in love with another woman while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I. Marguerite Radclyffe Hall was born on 12th August 1880, in Bournemouth, England. Hall's first novel The Unlit Lamp (1924) was a lengthy and grim tale that proved hard to sell. It was only published following the success of the much lighter social comedy The Forge (1924), which made the best-seller list of John O'London's Weekly. Hall is a key figure in lesbian literature for her novel The Well of Loneliness (1928). This is her only work with overt lesbian themes and tells the story of the life of a masculine lesbian named Stephen Gordon.

Banned on publication in 1928, a classic of lesbian literature and a powerful novel of love between women, social isolation, rejection, and contradictionBorn into an aristocratic family at the end of the Victorian age, Stephen Gordon is so named by parents who had longed for a boy. So begins a life of contradiction and isolation. Attracted to girls and women from an early age, Stephen's masculine appearance is accentuated by her preference for men's clothing and unfeminine mannerisms. When her first, burgeoning affair is cut short by social scandal, she moves to London and becomes a writer. When war breaks out she volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western Front, and falls hopelessly in love with a comrade. The subject of considerable media attention and legal action since its first publication in 1928, The Well of Loneliness can be considered a semi-autobiographical treatment of the personal and familial struggles of the author set against the epoch-defining events of the Edwardian era and World War I. It remains startlingly affecting today and its treatment of sexuality and gender issues continues to inspire study and debate.

Discover the groundbreaking and moving lesbian novel that rocked the British establishment. As a little girl Stephen Gordon always felt different. A talent for sport, a hatred of dresses and a preference for solitude were not considered suitable for a young lady of the Victorian upper-class. But when Stephen grows up and falls passionately in love with another woman, her standing in the county and her place at the home she loves become untenable. Stephen must set off to discover whether there is anywhere in the world that will have her. The complete and enhanced edition contains extra information and archival material that tells the fascinating story behind The Well's controversial publication, trial and ban in 1928.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Well of Loneliness" by Marguerite Radclyffe Hall. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

"The Well of Loneliness" is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall that was first published in 1928 by Jonathan Cape. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection, which Hall depicts as typically suffered by "inverts", with predictably debilitating effects. The novel portrays "inversion" as a natural, God-given state and makes an explicit plea: "Give us also the right to our existence".

The Well of Loneliness is a revolutionary novel that was published by Radclyffe Hall herself in 1928. It was immediately banned in England because of its lesbian topic and was allowed only in the US after a long court fight. When it was available, The Well of Loneliness sold in excess of 20,000 copies. The story revolves around a girl born into a rich English family named Stephen by her father, who wanted a boy. Radclyffe Corridor conveys the strong message that lesbianism is natural. This message, alongside Radclyffe Hall's depiction of lesbians in masculine stereotypes and feminine roles, caused the book to be written down by feminists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Well of Depression is worth reading as it breaks the silence of brutality and passes on a message about homophobia and incorporated shame applicable to lesbians even today.

‘Noble, accomplished, wealthy, self-sacrificing, and honourable, Stephen Gordon is the perfect hero,’ says Rebecca O’Rourke. But Stephen is a woman, and a lesbian. Here is an indication of the tantalizing complexity of The Well of Loneliness. Banned for obscenity when first published in 1928, The Well is now a bestseller, translated into numerous languages, but it must rank as one of the best known and least understood novels of the twentieth century. It combines the life and times of Stephen Gordon, the novel’s female protagonist, with a plea, directed to God and society, for tolerance towards homosexuality. Stephen Gordon has embodied what it means to be a lesbian for generations of women readers. But, as the perfect hero, she makes for an awkward heroine. Originally published in 1989, herself a novelist, critic, and lesbian, Rebecca O’Rourke examines what makes the figure of Stephen Gordon both infuriating and inspiring to lesbian and non-lesbian readers alike. She details the novel’s fascinating publishing history through an analysis of the motives and preoccupations of previous critics and biographers, many of whom mistakenly saw in The Well of Loneliness a fictional account of Radclyffe Hall’s own life. The novel’s status as the ‘bible of lesbianism’ has been a mixed blessing, often confirming the worst stereotypes of lesbianism, while at the same time ensuring its visibility. Rebecca O’Rourke includes a fascinating survey of reader’s reactions to the book which was still, at the time, so many years after its first publication, the first ‘lesbian’ novel many women picked up.