About this title: Radclyffe Hall was a Great English eccentric. She is most famous today for 'The Well of Loneliness ' which she wrote in 1928. A novel about lesbian love 'Congenital inverts' the book was suppresed both here and in the U.S., and caused Radclyffe to be put on trial under the obscene publications act. Vita Sackville West and Virginia Woolf, both of whom had had lesbian affairs, refused to be witnesses; Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote her supportive letters. Based on her own life, The Well of Loneliness tells the story of Sir Philip and Lady Gordon and their daughter who they baptise Stephen. ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: 11th Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Perma Books, New York
Date Published: 1959
Description: Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Name and price in pen inside. Front hinge loose. Wear to spine. Solid reading copy with clean pages. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Covici Friede, New York
Date Published: 1932
Description: Poor. No dust jacket. The front and back covers are completely off and a few pages are ripped. But, most maddingly of all, the book is missing the last page. Arghh! Hence the reason I'm selling it so cheap. I just don't want to throw it in the dollar bin. 506 p. 25 cm. Early edition. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York, NY
Date Published: 1964
Description: Very Good- This is the 1964 edition. Minor edge wear, a few small edge tears at bottom of back cover. "Denounced, banned, and applauded-the strange love story of a girl who stood midway between the sexes. " read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: PermaBooks
Date Published: 1951
Description: Fair. Moderate wear and creasing to cover. Page tanning. Tight binding. Unless noted, there are no marked, loose, or torn pages, and, it is not a remainder or an ex-library book. read more
Description: Fair. B00086Z538 1951 Permabooks paperback. Some cover wear and creasing. Slightly bumped corners. Sticker on inside rear cover. Pages tanned with age, light stain on outer page edges. A few pages at the end have small chips along top edge. Otherwise clean and tight. Not ex-library. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: BLUE RIBBON
Date Published: 1928-01-01
Description: Fair. Vintage hardcover lacking its dustjacket, shows no marks but substantive dark fading to spine area of red hardboards, light spot on back. Great reading copy. MendoPower Employment Services will immediately and carefully pack this book in high-quality bubble lined, envelopes. We appreciate your business and welcome any questions. read more
Edition: First Bard Paperback Edition
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Avon/Bard, New York
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780380542475ISBN:0380542471
Description: Fineg. No Jacket. Fiction. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Originally published in 1928 this story was the first to portray fully the life of a lesbian woman and the ostracism she suffered during that era. This book is in good shape. There is scuffing laong the edges of the spine and sllight creases to the front corners. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Garden City Blue Ribbon Books C 1928,
Description: Later reprint. 596pp. 8vc. HC. Maroon boards, bright gold lettering. FICTION. Early book on the fictional life of a lesbian. DJ is a throw-away except for its information. Top/bottm of spine and corners are worn, o/w minor wear and soil to sound binding. Ffep is missing. Paper is uniformly age-yellowed, o/w clean and sound. Good. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Sun Dial Press
Date Published: 1928
Description: Good. No folded pages or writing. Previous owners label on first page and pages have tanned a bit. Some cover wear, including rubbing & edgewear, plus corner bumps and a few small spots. No dustcover. Commentary by Havelock Ellis. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Blue Ribbon
Date Published: 1940
Description: Good. Cloth HARDBOUND IN ORANGE BOARDS W/FACSIMILE OF RADCLYFFE HALL SIGNATURE ON CVR-(Blue Ribbon Books NY 1928) reprint-1940/28th print. NO MARKS. Age tanning-flat-slightly rounded spine _ No DJ _ This will be on its way to you TODAY! Email confirmation _ No hassle returns _ all emails answered promptly _ Outstanding Quality, Value, and Service with Always Great Products _ Check our feedback _ We appreciate your business! read more
Edition: Quality Paperback Book Club Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Quality Paberback Book Club, New York
Date Published: 1993
Description: Fine. No Jacket. Fiction. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Originally published in 1928 this story was the first to portray fully the life of a lesbian woman and the ostracism she suffered during that era. This book is in great shape and has never been opened. This is part of the Triangle Classics series, illuminating the gay and lesbian experience, that Quality Paperback Book Club puts out for their subscribers. read more
Edition: 17th Print
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Covici, Friede Pub, New York
Date Published: 1929
Description: Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" GOOD dark blue hardcover, binding tight, boards clean, spine lightly faded with foxing, store stamp inside front board, interior pages unmarked, clean, no wear. A novel about sexuality and repression. 506 pgs. FC703335. read more
"I love reading books that have at some point been a source of controversy, the books that have been banned and censored, questioned and attacked. The Well of Loneliness is one of those books, and by looking at the cover of the edition I read there's a clue right there as to the reasoning for the controversy: "A 1920s Classic of Lesbian Fiction".
Steven Gordon is a wealthy English woman who is clearly not like other women, even from a young age. Her father had hoped for a boy and pinned those hopes on her name, Steven, while her mother was horrified and disgusted by Steven's less-than-feminine behavior in her early years. It's a long story, starting with Steven's youngest days and her earliest infatuation with someone of the same gender, and follows her into her late adolescence as she discovers just what exactly does make her different from other women. It is this self-discovery and outward behavior to fulfill this epiphany that causes strife between her and her mother. Eventually she leaves home and has a series of affairs with other women, each relationship different, each relationship special to Steven in some way.
What makes this story important is not just because it's a positive portrayal of women in love with one another, but because of the time in which it was written. Published in 1928 it is one of the earliest books of lesbianism, preceding and paving the way for Virginia Woolf and others. This is not a cautionary tale - it is not a story meant to deter women from having relations with other women. Instead it embraces it as in it's an autobiographical story based on Hall's own experiences. She brought her experiences into a public light; despite it's publication falling at the end of the Jazz Age which is popularly considered to be a time of failing moral and social systems, to read about lesbians at the time was still shocking. Would Woolf have written Orlando had Hall not written The Well of Loneliness? It's hard to say, but it's almost guaranteed that Woolf would have had a harder time getting Orlando published if Hall hadn't paved the literary (and feminist) way."
"The Well of Loneliness was first published in 1928, and because it was the first book of its kind to deal with the subject of same-sex relationships, Radclyffe Hall had to invent a new type of narrative.
I found this book full of insight into human motivations and how easily people's actions can be misunderstood. Radclyffe Hall was very perceptive.
It was a very sad story and showed what life was like for those who had to hide who they were and who they loved, and how they suffered because of it.
The atmosphere was built up slowly but steadily. Nobility of mind and spirit (as personified by the heroine, Stephen Gordon), suffering, religion, persecution, sacrifice and love.
There were many interesting devices used, but the one that struck me most was that some scenes featured no change. One in particular left me feeling empty, uneasy and restless - which fitted in perfectly with what the scene had been about.
I don't know much about Radclyffe Hall and perhaps it's better that way, because I was able to read and evaluate (and enjoy) the book for its own merits."
By Kristina,
Reading, Hampshire, The United Kingdom
"I enjoyed this book though I found the style of writing unusual. It wasn't quite a stream of consciousness novel but it seemed to be written from the perspective of "the voice in your head"
The ending was an unexpected twist but a fascinating story. I have learnt much about the 1920s and the beginnings of the emancipation of women in Europe."
"This is possibly the most beautiful book I have ever read. The prose is simply exquisite. Hall proves that imagery does not have to be tedious and overwraught. I felt a hundred times while reading this novel that I had never heard such a sentiment expressed so perfectly. In fact, sometimes the prose was so beautiful that the context almost faded away entirely, and I was simply left with a breath-taking sentence, paragraph or more...
Sadly, this book is still relevant 90 years after it was penned. I thought I would burst when Stephen rehearsed the speech she planned to give Mary about what would happen if they became lovers. So little has changed since then.
Though I was warned that the ending was disastrous, I have to disagree entirely. The book is a tragedy, but not one that is contrived or forced. There is no oracle, no announcement that our lovers are star-crossed, just a very sad reality of the time and an inevitable conlcusion. I think that Stephen's sacrifice is greater than any most of us selfish mortals could make. She felt she must save Mary, that her salvation would come too late to preserve her, and so she did the only thing she felt she could... she let Mary go.
This book is both exquisitely written and extremely relevant. It should be required reading in high schools and colleges. Everyone should experience the life and writings of Hall."
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