The Well of Loneliness
Radclyffe Hall (1880-1943)
Synopsis
Living in the baronial spendour of Morton Hall, Sir Philip
and Lady Gordon long for a son and heir. But their only child
is born a girl - and they baptise her Stephen. It becomes
apparent that Stephen is not like other girls; she learns
to fence and hunt, wears breeches and longs to cut her hair.
As she grows up, the people of Great Malvern draw away from
her, aware of some indefinable thing that sets her apart.
And when Stephen Gordon reaches maturity, she falls passionately
in love - with another woman.
First lines
Not very far from Upton-on-Severn - between it,
in fact, and the Malvern Hills - stands the country seat of
the Gordons of Bramley; well-timbered, well-cottaged, well-fenced
and well-watered, having, in this latter respect, a stream
that forks in exactly the right position to feed two large
lakes in the grounds.
Our comments
"There is no doubt that this is an important novel. But
sadly it isn't that good a read. There are some good scenes
set during the First World War, but the book is generally
rather dull - it is hard to work out which bits were thought
particularly obscene - and she calls her dog David for heaven's
sake."
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