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A review by kimschouwenaar
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
a devastating novel in which no lesbian gets a happy ending. and now I just want to give stephen a hug because ms hall really concludes the novel with stephen romantically martyring herself and becoming the spiritual spokesperson for all the queers alive, dead, and not yet born.
forever recommending this to all the gays, allies, and even the haters. hall brilliantly captures the horror of being queer in a society that yields no acceptance for 'inverts' yet doesn't simply linger on the internalised homophobia. stephen is mad af at society for labeling non-heteroromantic love as unnatural and pissed af at god for not having their back.
it is actually hilarious that this book was banned for obscenity when it was published in the same year as dh lawrence's lady chatterley's lover, which was also banned for obscenity. y'all, I was disappointed with the lack of obscenity in this novel (yea yea, historical perspective and all that, I know). there's like three wlw kisses; very pg13. meanwhile, connie and mellors are getting kinky in the woods every other chapter. with all due respect - rip mr lawrence - but lady chatterley's lover just wanted to novelise two people banging, whereas the well of loneliness defends the existence of a whole community on grounds that love is love and god loves all. it had me tearing up a lil' and I'm not even religious. and don't even get me started on the commentary on war.
also, I am mad. I could've written a killer thesis on stephen being nonbinary, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
forever recommending this to all the gays, allies, and even the haters. hall brilliantly captures the horror of being queer in a society that yields no acceptance for 'inverts' yet doesn't simply linger on the internalised homophobia. stephen is mad af at society for labeling non-heteroromantic love as unnatural and pissed af at god for not having their back.
it is actually hilarious that this book was banned for obscenity when it was published in the same year as dh lawrence's lady chatterley's lover, which was also banned for obscenity. y'all, I was disappointed with the lack of obscenity in this novel (yea yea, historical perspective and all that, I know). there's like three wlw kisses; very pg13. meanwhile, connie and mellors are getting kinky in the woods every other chapter. with all due respect - rip mr lawrence - but lady chatterley's lover just wanted to novelise two people banging, whereas the well of loneliness defends the existence of a whole community on grounds that love is love and god loves all. it had me tearing up a lil' and I'm not even religious. and don't even get me started on the commentary on war.
also, I am mad. I could've written a killer thesis on stephen being nonbinary, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia
Moderate: Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide