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The Well of Loneliness Paperback – October 18, 1990
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Hall (1880-1943) was legendary in her own time--or infamous, some might say--for her fifth novel, The Well of Loneliness (1928). The book was banned for obscenity because its main character is a lesbian, and it subsequently became a notorious best-seller, thrusting Hall into a literary rogues' gallery of fame. Cline uses previously unexplored material to create a biography of the now largely forgotten author that portrays the dense interrelationship of her writings, her childhood, and her friends and loves. Hall called herself by three names: Marguerite, the name with which she had been christened and which she hated, given as it was by the mother she despised; John, her chosen name, which she used among her associates; and Radclyffe, her pen name. The three often enigmatic selves these names indicated formed her public and private personae. The roots giving rise to her international lesbian best-seller are traceable to her early adolescent loves as well as her affairs with married sculptor Una Troubridge and many others--matters that Cline presents in a lively and readable style. Whitney Scott
Review
The Well of Loneliness is a path-breaking novel. Published by Radclyffe Hall herself in 1928, it was immediately banned in Britain due to its lesbian theme and was allowed in the United States only after a long court battle. Once it was available, The Well of Loneliness sold more than 20,000 copies its first year and paved the way for other works with lesbian themes. The novel concerns a girl born into a wealthy English family at the turn of the century and named Stephen by her father who desperately wanted a boy. Practically from birth, Stephen is described as "different," yet while Radclyffe Hall delivers the powerful message that lesbianism is natural, she also asks the reader to have pity on Stephen Gordon, for, along with the popular psychoanalysts of her day, Radclyffe Hall describes lesbianism as an "inversion." The "terrible mark of Cain" compels Stephen to forsake the woman she loves to protect her from a life of ostracism. This message, along with Radclyffe Hall's portrayal of lesbians in stereotypical "butch" and "femme" roles, caused the book to be written off by feminists in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In addition, many readers today may find the language long-winded and the characters one-dimensional, with the exception of the thinly-veiled portrait of the author as Stephen Gordon. Nonetheless, The Well of Loneliness is worth reading because it shattered the silence of oppression and conveys a message about homophobia and internalized shame relevant to lesbians even today. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Heather Downey
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
147 of 149 people found the following review helpful
By
G. Green
on August 20, 2001
Format: Paperback
3 Comments
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I first read this book when I was 12 years old, (during WWII). I was fortunate that my father allowed me to read anything I desired. As a child in the early 1940's I didn't know what a lesbian was and had to ask my father. He explained that they were women who prefered the compamy of other women. I could understand that and it was enough of an explanation for a 12 year old. Over the last 50+ years I have often returned to the book. I am, in fact, on my third copy. I am heterosexual, a widow, mother of four, grandmother of nine. It took me many readings to realize why I identified with the character in the book. It is the relationship between the girl and her parents and not the sexual aspect, that drew me. I reccommend this book to anyone interested in family dynamics. Many of us have experienced loneliness, the feeling of not "fitting in", of not conforming, not measuring up to someone else's ideals and this is why I consider this book timeless. Sure, it is dated both in dialogue and in the experience of homosexuals today but that doesn't negate to feelings expressed in the book.
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66 of 69 people found the following review helpful
By
A Customer
on July 7, 2003
Format: Paperback
2 Comments
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I read this book 50 years ago and was enraptured with it. I am a male, and at the time of reading, a U.S. Marine who should have been decidely against any form of deviation. But when I read the book, I was so greatly impressed with the pathos of the writer and the beauty of the writing, that I wanted no else in my immediate acquaintence to see this book and possibly ridicule it. You see, I was aboard ship with a battalion of fellow Marines and I knew that such a book would find nothing but patent denigration by "all hands." So,I read the book to last page of this beautiful book, closed it, and with tears in my eyes, dropped it into the Mediterranean Sea. I've never forgotten this book in all these years.
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53 of 56 people found the following review helpful
By
Daniel Myers
VINE VOICE on May 8, 2001
Format: Paperback
4 Comments
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This book is to be recommended not only to the lesbian or "invert," but to all sensitive souls who have felt themselves "outcast from life's feast," to borrow from Joyce. The prose itself is rich and beautiful as few books are today, and if this style is long winded as one reviwer has dubbed it, then modern literary culture needs to open its doors to let in some fresh air, regardless of the season. This style of this book, oddly, resembles more than anything that of the contemporary "straight" Bildungsroman by Thomas Wolfe-Look Homeward, Angel. But Hall is more effective at bringing home "the pain of all beauty" and I found myself laying the book down several times to wipe the salty blur from my eyes, such is its poignancy. The storyline and character, oddly again, of Hall's book and of her protagonist Stephen Gordon remind me of nothing so much as Rousseau in his Confessions. Yet, these similarities should not be surprising after all. All three were sensitive geniuses who suffered much through their own spiritual tenderness.-This book is for all who have felt, like Hall and Stephen, "...like a soul that wakes up to find itself wandering, unwanted, between the spheres."-Or as Shelley would have it in his fragment "To The Moon," "Art thou pale for weariness of climbing heaven and gazing on Earth, wandering companionless?"-It will ease your struggle and perhaps bring you rest.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
By
melanie b.
on June 14, 2006
Format: Paperback
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The first thing I noticed about Radclyffe Hall's "The Well of Loneliness," was the beautiful descriptive exposition. Before the novel delves too far into modernism, it is apparent that it is hedging out the Victorian. Descriptions of the English countryside, of London and of Paris are some of the finest written in English. Not only this but the painstaking care the Hall takes to describe her characters, though even Stephen remains a bit fuzzy to me, are lovely and purposeful. Her sense of loss, loneliness and love are extremely powerful and extremely well conveyed.
That being said, the bravery it took to write the first English- language novel that addressed "invertedness," in Stephen's case butch-lesbian identity and, overall, homosexuality, is incredible. It is hard to be absolutely disappointed with the author for the ending of the novel, particularly since it seems to be semi-authobiographic. Given the time period, the ending was likely collateral in exchange for being published. Without giving it away, I'll simply add that I felt sad for the world and defiant, and these not unexpected emotions after a 500 page journey that included happiness and hope, depseration and anxiety. To be cliche, it reminds one of how far we've come with civil rights and yet how very far we still must go.
Like some of fellow modernist writer Fitzgerald's characters, Hall's character is wealthy and priveledged and yet likeable. One is inclined to empathize with her situation at most points, and when not, it is easy to become enraged at the world and not Stephen.Read more ›
That being said, the bravery it took to write the first English- language novel that addressed "invertedness," in Stephen's case butch-lesbian identity and, overall, homosexuality, is incredible. It is hard to be absolutely disappointed with the author for the ending of the novel, particularly since it seems to be semi-authobiographic. Given the time period, the ending was likely collateral in exchange for being published. Without giving it away, I'll simply add that I felt sad for the world and defiant, and these not unexpected emotions after a 500 page journey that included happiness and hope, depseration and anxiety. To be cliche, it reminds one of how far we've come with civil rights and yet how very far we still must go.
Like some of fellow modernist writer Fitzgerald's characters, Hall's character is wealthy and priveledged and yet likeable. One is inclined to empathize with her situation at most points, and when not, it is easy to become enraged at the world and not Stephen.Read more ›
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By
F. Orion Pozo
on November 19, 2005
Format: Paperback
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The Well of Loneliness is called the first undisguised lesbian novel in the English language, which makes it required reading for a women's studies class or scholarly lesbians. Yet, though written in 1928, it is still relevant to all people interested in issues of inclusiveness and diversity. Also, with its arguments based on Christian morality, it should get serious consideration by the religious right before they condemn homosexuality.
The novel is a fictionalized biography of a lesbian born in the 1890s to a well-to-do couple on a country estate in England. They were desiring a son and name their only daughter Stephen, the name they had selected for their heir. Her mother finds it difficult to get close to this girl whose favorite game is dressing up as Admiral Nelson, but her father treats her like the son he was denied. He teaches her horseback riding, and takes her on the local fox hunts where she excels.
Yet as she reaches puberty and young adulthood, her mannish behavior and dress starts to cause her problems. But this is Victorian England and certain things are just not spoken about, so Stephan grows up ignorant of what she is and how society feels about people like her. When her father dies her protection from the prejudices of society also disappear. She is ostracised and eventually forced out of her home by her mother.
This isn't an easy book to read. With such a title, you know that it isn't going to be a lot of fun. Yet Hall wonderfully represents Stephen's life and the adversity she faces because of a situation beyond her control. She argues that "Inversion" is natural because lesbians exist in nature. Since nature is God's creation, so are lesbians and all other inverts of society.Read more ›
The novel is a fictionalized biography of a lesbian born in the 1890s to a well-to-do couple on a country estate in England. They were desiring a son and name their only daughter Stephen, the name they had selected for their heir. Her mother finds it difficult to get close to this girl whose favorite game is dressing up as Admiral Nelson, but her father treats her like the son he was denied. He teaches her horseback riding, and takes her on the local fox hunts where she excels.
Yet as she reaches puberty and young adulthood, her mannish behavior and dress starts to cause her problems. But this is Victorian England and certain things are just not spoken about, so Stephan grows up ignorant of what she is and how society feels about people like her. When her father dies her protection from the prejudices of society also disappear. She is ostracised and eventually forced out of her home by her mother.
This isn't an easy book to read. With such a title, you know that it isn't going to be a lot of fun. Yet Hall wonderfully represents Stephen's life and the adversity she faces because of a situation beyond her control. She argues that "Inversion" is natural because lesbians exist in nature. Since nature is God's creation, so are lesbians and all other inverts of society.Read more ›
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