First published in 1928, The Well of Loneliness portrays the tormented life of Stephen Gordon, a girl born in an upper-class English family who is christened as the boy whom her parents were expecting.
As a young girl, Stephen hates dresses, wants her hair cut short, longs to be a boy and develops a childish crush on a housemaid. Her parents have an ambivalent attitude toward their child– if, on the one hand, none of them really wants a daughter, on the other hand, they seem to see Stephen as a damaged, strange creature.
Stephen finally seems to find love when she meets Mary Llewellyn, while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I – but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection…
This novel was targeted by a campaign against obscenity and censored shortly after being published, due to its themes of transgender identity and lesbian love and to the fact that it appears to be widely autobiographic and drawing from the experience of its author, Radclyffe Hall – it is now considered a modern classic.
As a bonus, you can find included in this edition of 'The Well Of Loneliness', also 'The Unlit Lamp', a less known but compelling novel by Radclyffe Hall.
As a young girl, Stephen hates dresses, wants her hair cut short, longs to be a boy and develops a childish crush on a housemaid. Her parents have an ambivalent attitude toward their child– if, on the one hand, none of them really wants a daughter, on the other hand, they seem to see Stephen as a damaged, strange creature.
Stephen finally seems to find love when she meets Mary Llewellyn, while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I – but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection…
This novel was targeted by a campaign against obscenity and censored shortly after being published, due to its themes of transgender identity and lesbian love and to the fact that it appears to be widely autobiographic and drawing from the experience of its author, Radclyffe Hall – it is now considered a modern classic.
As a bonus, you can find included in this edition of 'The Well Of Loneliness', also 'The Unlit Lamp', a less known but compelling novel by Radclyffe Hall.
