Customer Reviews

The Well of Loneliness

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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.

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.

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.

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. It's amazing that book was published in the late 20's, and yet problems like those the characters encountered in "The Well of Loneliness" still exist -- we are still fighting to be able to "protect" and "provide security" to those we love.

This book is an amazing journey. If it is slow moving, it is only because it encompasses over 30 years, years which are necessary to fully understanding the social world that "freaks" like us are still only allowed limited access to. This is worth reading no matter what type of outcast you consider yoursel to be. There is much comfort even in feeling one is not alone. So, thanks, Radclyffe.

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. She is morally strong and wants to take her inherited place in society, but is blocked by mean-spirited and close-minded people. The book would be like Pride and Prejudice if there was only one daughter and she was gay.

The social turmoil and change in society that takes place because of World War I is well portrayed by the author. Stephen becomes an ambulance driver in France, and stays on in Paris seeking a community of like-minded people. Yet even there she cannot find peace and acceptance.

This is an important book because it takes a serious look at the role of gay people in society. All the issues that face this community today are raised by Radclyffe Hall. Social and religious condemnation, internalized oppression, and even the question of gay marriage are all addressed in clear and persuasive prose. The style is a bit formal and introspective, yet this glimpse into the individual is superbly portrayed and excellently developed. I found it slow moving, but with great emotional and intellectual impact.

Regardless of one's orientation, this work should be read - if for no other reason, to ensure oneself that we all are, most beautifully, outside the mold, whether it's in our sexuality or in our particular preferences for coffee or tea. An extremely insightful view of class division, of the courage (and grief)in living one's beliefs, and for those who have been there, a description of the Midlands that one can reach out and touch.

~I'm not quite sure whether to love of despise this book. It's so wrong in it's truthfulness and yet seems so dellusional. I mean being a lesbian I know how it feels and I can understand the fact that this story takes place it the very beginning of 20th century when the society was a lot less tolerate of homosexuals than now, but still it seems to me that Radclyffe Hall sometimes exaggerated the feelings of loneliness and despair felt by Stephen. Still in other moments during the book one is~~ made to wonder how some things still haven't changed while so many others have during the course of all these years. Some of the emotions the author describes are infinitly truthful. The one thing I would definitely change though is the ending because it just serves to add to the despair and show that so called "normalicy" (and many people still think of it this way) should always prevail in this world. I knew what was coming for many chapters ahead of the actual ending and yet couldn't~~ help but cry when I finally finished reading the last words.~

If you're studying lesbian literature, obscenity trials or queer history in general, this book has unfortunately become foundation stuff and might be worth trawling through. If you're a young dyke just starting to read queer writing, it'll just make you feel hopeless and there are far better writers around. Radclyffe Hall may have been a pioneer and a martyr, and she does at least get marks for courage considering the atmosphere of the time, but as a writer she was mediocre (and apparently as a person she was a nasty piece of work).

Admittedly, the book is very much a product of its time. Sexual orientation was little understood, gender dysphoria even less so, and Hall appears to have got muddled up between the two. There is a mild stab at scientific explanation (Stephen's parents long for a boy, give her a boy's name, treat her as a boy to a certain extent - and surprise surprise, she grows up to like girls and dress as a man), and a very clear line drawn between "inverts" and "normals" that will make anyone grit their teeth long before they come to the depressing way in which Stephen "heroically" solves her final dilemma. The depiction of the relatively "normal" women Stephen loves as properly girly creatures, who are swayed by the perils of Sapphic passion but are still Real Women underneath, contains some pretty unpleasant stereotypes about bisexuals and "femme" women, and the characterisation throughout neither arouses sympathy in the reader nor particularly convinces.

Despite the obscenity trial, there is nothing scandalous in this book beyond the idea that a woman could love women: the dirtiest it gets is the all-concealing line, "...And that night they were not divided." (Sorry if that's a spoiler, but as a friend of mine said, "You mean I've read hundreds of pages about her miserable childhood for *that*?")

If you want lesbian sex, there are plenty of writers offering that sort of thing these days, and some of them even write about it well (Emma Donoghue, for instance, who is, incidentally, a vivid, moving and very funny writer). If you're after lesbian literature of that period, go to Virginia Woolf and co. (there are also some excellent anthologies, such as the "Penguin Book of Lesbian Short Stories" and "Chloe Plus Olivia", that take a literary-historical perspective). If you simply want a well-written book about love between women, again there is far better on offer: the previous two writers and also the likes of Jane Rule and Alice Walker. And if you're interested in transsexuality and the boundaries between genders (not to mention the people who fall in the middle), I can recommend Anna Livia's "Bruised Fruit" and Rose Tremain's "Sacred Country". Spare yourself this.

i just translated the book into chinese so i guess i did some pretty close reading :). while the novel is undoubtedly a milestone in the history of english literature, lesbian culture, and the battle against censorship, its literary merits leave something to be desired. radclyffe hall's prose is ornate and even over-dramatizing at times, and i find the frequent insertion of french phrases and sentences redundant and affected. the situations and emotions are relevant, poignant, and often depicted with insight, but because the mood and the tone of the narrative is so persistently intensive it does tend to get tedious after a while--which can be well before one finishes the book.

it seems quite obvious that stephen gordon, the heroine (or should i say hero?) of the book, would never have questioned the moral conventions and gender roles of her times, had she not been born to be what she was--in short, a male soul trapped inside a female body (though hall, true to her style, never just says so). for she totally identified herself with a (upper-class) society of so-called respectability, honor, refinement, etc., which constitutes a mentality not really, uh, let's say "progressive". while crying out against the outrage against and persecution of lesbians and gays, stephen remained disconcertingly vague in her attitude toward effeminate males (such as the character jonathan brockett), feeling much more at ease with and indeed seeking the acceptance of straight (and presumably manly) men. i'm not exactly saying that it's "reactionary" to long for the very "secure and happy" life of "the normal", but how she--and i wonder if also the author--repeatedly projected heterosexual marriage to be is way too idealized and dangerously so, not pausing for even one moment to reflect on what outrage and persecution that sort of marriage could also and did often turn out to be for perfectly "normal" women. one can't help feeling that she thought everything would've been just so fine, if only and only if she had been a man!

so, while trying not to be anachronistic in my judgment of the novel and the characters in it, i suggest that it be carefully read *in context*, historically and ideologically.

Anna and Sir Phillip Gordon looked happily unpon the upcoming birth of their child, hoping against hope to have a boy, even going so far as to only pick out a boy's name. When the child arrives, Anna is dispirited when she gives birth to a girl. Sir Phillip makes the most of it, but still decides to give her the name they'd already chosen: Stephen. And so enters into the world one of the most astonishing creatures of literary fiction.

Young Stephen knows that she's different from the other children, but her father, noticing her difference also, allows her to grow up her own way: riding horses like a young man, sometimes dressing like a young boy. From a young age to her lae thirties, we watch as Stephen discovers herself, longing to love and to fit into a society that will not accept her or others like her. She puts her feelings into words, becoming a successful author and does find love, but that love is put to the test when someone who can offer her beloved acceptance steps into the picture.

An astonishing book for its time that was banned upon initial publication, openly discussing what was considered taboo with much candor and respect. The characters of Radclyffe Hall's novel deal with the same societal pressures and beliefs which are still prevalent today: same-sex marriage, societal roles of male and female, wanting to fight for one's country during a time of war even when that country doesn't want you because of who you are. A truly remarkbale novel.