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The Well of Loneliness / The Unlit Lamp
This volume contains the first novel; as well as the most famous novel, by author Marguerite Radclyffe Hall.
Hall's first novel, The Unlit Lamp, is the story of Joan Ogden, a young girl who dreams of setting up a flat in London with her friend Elizabeth (a so-called Boston marriage) and studying to become a doctor, but feels trapped by her manipulative mother's emotional dependence on her.
The other novel in this volume is Hall's best known work, The Well of Loneliness, the only one of her eight novels to have overt lesbian themes. Published in 1928, was the subject of an obscenity trial and forbidden at the time in England. It deals with the life of Stephen Gordon, a masculine lesbian who, like Hall herself, identifies as an invert. Although Gordon's attitude toward her own sexuality is anguished, the novel presents lesbianism as natural and makes a plea for greater tolerance.
Hall's first novel, The Unlit Lamp, is the story of Joan Ogden, a young girl who dreams of setting up a flat in London with her friend Elizabeth (a so-called Boston marriage) and studying to become a doctor, but feels trapped by her manipulative mother's emotional dependence on her.
The other novel in this volume is Hall's best known work, The Well of Loneliness, the only one of her eight novels to have overt lesbian themes. Published in 1928, was the subject of an obscenity trial and forbidden at the time in England. It deals with the life of Stephen Gordon, a masculine lesbian who, like Hall herself, identifies as an invert. Although Gordon's attitude toward her own sexuality is anguished, the novel presents lesbianism as natural and makes a plea for greater tolerance.
698 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
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About the author
Radclyffe Hall
82 books337 followersMarguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel The Well of Loneliness, a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name John, rather than Marguerite.
In the drawing rooms of Edwardian society, Marguerite made a small name as a poet and librettist. In 1907, she met a middle-aged fashionable singer, Mrs. Mabel Batten, known as 'Ladye", who introduced her to influential people. Batten and Radclyffe Hall entered into a long-term relationship. But before Batten died in 1916, Radclyffe Hall, known in private as 'John', had taken up with the second love of her life, Una, Lady Troubridge, who gave up her own creative aspirations (she was the first English translator of the French novelist Colette) to manage the household which she shared with 'John' for 28 years. With Batten, Radclyffe Hall converted to Catholicism; in the company of Una, she pursued an interest in animals and spiritualism. In later life, Radclyffe Hall chased after a younger woman named Evguenia Souline, a White Russian refugee. She died from cancer of the colon in October 1943.
As Radclyffe Hall (no hyphen; prefixed neither by 'John' nor 'Marguerite'), she published a volume of stories, Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself (1934), which describes how British society utilised 'masculine' women during the First World War and then dropped them afterwards, and a total of seven novels. However, the novel on which Radclyffe Hall's reputation rests primarily is The Well of Loneliness (1928).
The novel was successfully prosecuted for obscenity when if first came out, and remained banned in Britain until 1948. Vilified as 'the bible of lesbianism' by fire-and-brimstone reactionaries. In the seventies, the halcyon days of radical feminism, it was hailed as the first portrayal of a 'butch' woman.
In the drawing rooms of Edwardian society, Marguerite made a small name as a poet and librettist. In 1907, she met a middle-aged fashionable singer, Mrs. Mabel Batten, known as 'Ladye", who introduced her to influential people. Batten and Radclyffe Hall entered into a long-term relationship. But before Batten died in 1916, Radclyffe Hall, known in private as 'John', had taken up with the second love of her life, Una, Lady Troubridge, who gave up her own creative aspirations (she was the first English translator of the French novelist Colette) to manage the household which she shared with 'John' for 28 years. With Batten, Radclyffe Hall converted to Catholicism; in the company of Una, she pursued an interest in animals and spiritualism. In later life, Radclyffe Hall chased after a younger woman named Evguenia Souline, a White Russian refugee. She died from cancer of the colon in October 1943.
As Radclyffe Hall (no hyphen; prefixed neither by 'John' nor 'Marguerite'), she published a volume of stories, Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself (1934), which describes how British society utilised 'masculine' women during the First World War and then dropped them afterwards, and a total of seven novels. However, the novel on which Radclyffe Hall's reputation rests primarily is The Well of Loneliness (1928).
The novel was successfully prosecuted for obscenity when if first came out, and remained banned in Britain until 1948. Vilified as 'the bible of lesbianism' by fire-and-brimstone reactionaries. In the seventies, the halcyon days of radical feminism, it was hailed as the first portrayal of a 'butch' woman.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 14, 2020
Gets a couple of stars for its historical significance and because it is a novel that understandably and justifiably is revered by the LGBT+ community. Can’t take away the bravery of this novel and what it stood for and for being such a pathfinder, but if considered purely as a novel without the background and cultural attachments - it is bloody awful. Cliché packed, overly long, lacking in descriptive depth, mono-nuanced characters, and certainly not helped by the fact that the author in creating the genius Stephen Gordon is reflecting what she thinks about herself - which is instantly disproved by the quality of the narrative.
Read it for history to say you have but honestly, if there is a pile of books lying next to your bed to dig into, read them first, after all life is short and this book shouldn’t steal you away from better material.
Read it for history to say you have but honestly, if there is a pile of books lying next to your bed to dig into, read them first, after all life is short and this book shouldn’t steal you away from better material.
January 2, 2018
I enjoyed the Well of Loneliness although it was too long and drawn out, as other reviewers have hired. Once I got into the story, I couldn't put it down. I was very sad at the end, very depressing. Still reading The Unlit Lamp.
April 3, 2018
Very Strange book. Quite religious but it was written in the The 1920’s and banned because of it’s content about Lesbians.I don’t think I would recommend this book.
December 2, 2015
This book was so over-written and the complete overuse of details/adjectives which were in no way related to the story made the book seem like it would never end. The storyline and direction are lacking and very weak.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews