I found it a tricky read because it’s just not very well written: the style is old fashioned and stodgy for the time, considering who her literary peers were. Forster and Virginia Woolf), but when Hall asked them to support the book for its literary merit, they refused. The book received support from writers at the time on point of principle (including E.M. It’s an iconic book, thrust into the limelight by an obscenity trial at the time of publishing. So, a rare negative review from me, but Radcliffe Hall isn’t still around to care. Sadly, it turned out to be a bit of a chore, and while it definitely does provide valuable historical insight into how sexuality was viewed at the time (1928), it’s not a book I would recommend reading for entertainment. It’s one of those books I’ve been meaning to read forever. I read The Well of Loneliness as part of my research for the 1920s novel I’m currently working on. It is perhaps the first coming out story published (let me know of others, if I’m wrong), and sets down the pattern for that particularly kind of Bildungsroman that many other coming out stories would follow, charting Stephen’s life from childhood to adulthood, as she negotiates her way around her particular sexuality and gender identity. The Well of Loneliness is the story of Stephen Gordon, an aristocratic woman who prefers to dress in a masculine fashion, and who loves women.
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