Hall made it clear to her publisher that she wanted the original text published, declaring: Despite its early banning, the novel’s notoriety helped push narratives of lesbians in Western literature to the forefront.

Receiving pushback from critics for her “sexually deviant” novel, Hall was swept into legal battles. Although many decades have passed since its initial publication, the issued of prejudice and persecution that Radclyffe Hall addresses remain relevant today. Its publication marked an act of great courage by the publisher, which almost ruined Hall’s literary career. The book’s main character, Stephen Gordon, ruminates on her maleness and body dysphoria touchingly, using the limited descriptive language available at the time.īanned outright in 1928 when first published in Britain, the novel went to trial for obscenity. A book ahead of its timeĪt the time it was published, the story of same-sex love between women was a topic that was rarely written about outside of scientific textbooks. Shockingly candid for its time, this novel was the very first to condemn homophobic society. The Well of Loneliness is a semi-autobiographical story of Radclyffe Hall’s own life. It shocked some members “proper” society and served as an awakening to others who felt isolated by repressive social mores.

Once denounced as immoral, it has also been praised as a courageous work of literature. The semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman’s coming to terms with her lesbian identity, and perhaps more to the point, her maleness, caused a furor when first published in England. Since its first appearance in 1928, The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (1880 – 1943) has spurred much discussion and controversy.

Radclyffe hall's the well of loneliness