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The Well Of Loneliness
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
Radclyffe Hall (born Marguerite Radclyffe Hall on 12 August 1880 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel The Well of Loneliness. The novel has become a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. The Well of Loneliness is a 1928 lesbian novel by the British author Radclyffe Hall. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection, which Hall depicts as having a debilitating effect on inverts. The novel portrays inversion as a natural, God-given state and makes an explicit plea: "Give us also the right to our existence".
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shawnmooney
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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johncadams
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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Pickpick

This is one of the best-known early examples of lesbian fiction. It isn't always an easy read, but it is a powerful one.

#literature #LGBTQIA+ #LGBT #lesbian

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GatheringBooks
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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TheSpineView Beautiful! 2y
28 likes1 comment
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TheEllieMo
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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#3Books #BannedBooksIHaventRead

These ones have all at one time been banned in the U.K, though all are freely available now.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 📚👍🏻📚 3y
27 likes1 comment
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theladygreer
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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Today's #read99women comes from Carrie Callaghan, whose new novel SALT THE SNOW is out now! She stumbled across a groundbreaking novel in her research on Milly Bennett, and shares her recommendation for THE WELL OF LONELINESS. http://www.greermacallister.com/blog/2020/2/4/read99women-carrie-callaghan

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TheEllieMo
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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First published in 1928, the tagged book became the subject of a trial under the Obscene Publications Act 1857, and was banned in the UK because it defended “unnatural practices between women.” The ban was not lifted until 1959, 16 years after the author‘s death.

#BannedBook #GratefulReads
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 🙌🏼📚 4y
37 likes2 comments
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TheEllieMo
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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1. Nothing!! 😱 I finished a book in the car on my way to a night out this evening!

2. The tagged book.

3. Lanny by Max Porter

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

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merelybookish
Well of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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Considered one of the first novels about a lesbian love affair. It was pretty heartbreaking. 💔
#ringofkeys #musicalnewyear @cinfhen @vivastory

Cinfhen Wow, 1928 5y
vivastory I've been meaning to read this. Great pick! 5y
merelybookish @Cinfhen Yes! I believe it was banned or put on trial for obscenity when it was first published. 5y
merelybookish @vivastory Well worth a read! 5y
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arlenefinnigan
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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Pickpick

This was pretty heavy going due to the unremittingly bleak and maudlin tone, but I guess that reflects the reality of being LGBTQ at the time. Some of the attitudes of the author are equally 'of their time' - the description of the 'negroes' made me wince - but a lot of the writing is really beautiful, especially the last chapter. #ReadHarder

merelybookish I read this earlier in the year. 💯 % yes to everything you said! 6y
Listener15 I remember going to the library as a little high school freshman gay girl and reading this in a corner but never checked it out because I was too nervous to. Oh how times have changed. 6y
arlenefinnigan @merelybookish the bit about her childhood especially dragged a bit. "I don't understand, what's wrong with me, what's different about me?" You're a lesbian in a repressive society, isn't it obvious? Oh it wasn't obvious then, was it? 6y
arlenefinnigan @Listy indeed they have. Still work to do but I'd rather live in a world where gay marriage is legal. 6y
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Crystallinegirl
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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I found a few books I intend to read for PopSugar's 2018 Reading Challenge, like The Well of Loneliness and To Kill A Mockingbird. #bookhaul photo 2 of 4 from The Book Thing of Baltimore.

Sue I love The Well of Loneliness. You‘ll have to report back in the Radclyffe Hall bio. 😊 6y
Crystallinegirl @Sue good to know! They both fit the prompt for "LGBTQ+ Protagonist," as well as "based on a real person." 6y
Sue Nice! I‘ve never done the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge before (I usually do the Book Riot Read Harder one), but it looks like I have a bunch of titles on my shelf that would be suitable. Thanks for posting about it 😊 6y
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Crystallinegirl @Sue I looked through several different Reading Challenges and PopSugar's looked the most interesting. I've been pondering doing a geographical challenge, too - a book for every US state, or a book for every country. Maybe in 2019! 6y
Sue I‘m doing a ‘reading around the world‘ challenge with the aim to read a book from every country, but I‘m not giving myself a time limit. I‘ve discovered this year I am primarily a mood reader and react badly to past me giving future me a list of titles 😂 6y
Crystallinegirl @Sue I wouldn't give myself a time limit on the around the world challenge, for sure. That's far too many books! I've read 85 books so far this year, though, so 50 in a year for a challenge should still leave me room for spontaneity, I think. 6y
15 likes6 comments
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Tunde
Well of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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This is the first edition in Hungarian. Published 2017

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arlenefinnigan
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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This needs to be returned 📚🔜 on Friday via Borrow Box and I'm on page 159 of 914. Think I might need to renew..... @RealLifeReading #emojinovember

rockpools What is this BorrowBox of which you speak? (and I have to admit to reserving this one, seeing the size of it, and returning it. Lightweight!) 6y
16 likes1 comment
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arlenefinnigan
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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#ReadHarder challenge 20: a book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country.

merelybookish I read this recently. I really enjoyed it, although sad. 6y
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rockpools
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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My library reservation came in. For some reason I expected it to be a slim little book. It wasn't. So I picked up something else as well... (logic!)

I feel like I should know what Amit Chaudhuri's written, but I can't see anything that sounds familiar, so short stories with beautiful Indian instruments on the cover seems like a good place to start.

batsy I've read that story collection but can't remember much 😳 I would like to read this by him though 7y
BarbaraBB The Well of Loneliness is really easy to read! 7y
rockpools @batsy That bodes well 🤔! It sounds like the first story may be related to your book - a young poet and his uncle. I'll let you know! 7y
rockpools @BarbaraBB Thank you! Easy is good right now 🤷🏻‍♀️ 7y
batsy @RachelO Sorry, it probably just means that my memory is terrible 😁 Look forward to your thoughts! 7y
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BarbaraBB
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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Pickpick

A lesbian novel from the early 20th century. It follows the life of Stephen, an English girl who is obviously gay from an early age. Her father understands and tries to protect her but after his death she has to face the cruel world, in which homosexuality is still a huge taboo. #1001books Picture: Plaza Ayuntamiento, Valencia, Spain

LisaMorr I'll be reading this later this year, looking forward to it. 7y
BarbaraBB I hope you'll like it as much as I did. 7y
merelybookish I finished this a few weeks ago and really liked it, although I felt so sad for Stephen throughout. Obviously this are MUCH better now but I imagine some gay people still end up cut off from their homes. 7y
BarbaraBB Coincidentally this weekend was Amsterdam Gay Pride. Thousands and thousands of LHBTs came to the city and it was a big and happy spectacle. Afterwards I was wondering why we still need such an event. Probably because it isn't as accepted as we like to think? Like you, I wonder how many 'Steven's we still have! 7y
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theshrinkette
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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Exciting Saturday night plans.

AceOnRoam Party hard! 7y
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quirkyreader
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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This is for my #TBT pick. I like to collect pulps because of the art work. When I first moved to Indiana sixteen years ago I found this at the Bloomington GW. I then started to collect as many copies of this book I could find, and came across a copy of Hall's biography. Hall could be a bit of a tyrant and treated one of her partners very badly. It was something Hall came to regret later in life.

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SoniaC
The Well Of Loneliness | Radclyffe Hall
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I'm doing the 2016 reading challenge with several friends. I figured it's a good way to diversify my reading. The Well of Loneliness was my choice for a banned book. I have to say I found it much more compelling than I expected. It's quite tragic and in a way heartbreaking. Life in exile.

mrsbatman85 Oh I loved this book. Haven't read it in years but seeing this is making me want to dig it out! 8y
SoniaC I really loved it to. It's so tragic. 8y
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