The Well Of Loneliness

An international bestseller which influenced how love between women is understood, for the twentieth century and beyond.

THE MOST FAMOUS LESBIAN NOVEL FOR DECADES - AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

'The bible of lesbianism' THE TIMES

'A beacon for sexual self-discovery' HEPHZIBAH ANDERSON, BBC CULTURE

'One of the first and most influential contributions of gay and lesbian literature' NEW STATESMAN

A powerful novel of love between women, The Well of Loneliness brought about the most famous legal trial for obscenity in the history of British law. Banned on publication in 1928, it then went on to become a classic bestseller.

'What do I care for the world's opinion? What do I care for anything but you!'

Stephen Gordon (named by a father desperate for a son) is not like other girls: she hunts, she fences, she reads books, wears trousers and longs to cut her hair. She is an ideal child of aristocratic parents who grows up to be a war hero, a bestselling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women.

In the stifling grandeur of Morton Hall, the locals begin to 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. As her ambitions drive and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.

Introduced by Diana Souhami, author of the acclaimed biography The Trials of Radclyffe Hall.