‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ be damned!  I judge!  And I love!  I ordered this book through SPACE 87 on Etsy.

SUPER RARE PAPERBACK: “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall. 437 pages.

Originally published 1928, this paperback Perma Book edition is from 1960 with amazing cover art! Probably the best edition in that respect and a great addition to your collection!

Historically significant novel with a lesbian theme.

Good condition, spine intact, pages are yellowed but not brittle. Very readable. Cover shows light creases. Scans make it look a little worse than in reality. 

– John Banks

Just visually and olfactorily, the book does not disappoint!  Let’s open to a random page and see what my eye lands on…

“Like a river that has gradually risen to flood, until it sweeps everything before it, so now events rose and gathered in strength towards their inevitable conclusion.” (p. 191)  Oh my!

Radclyffe Hall (born Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall on 12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the lesbian classic The Well of Loneliness… Published in 1928, The Well of Loneliness deals with the life of Stephen Gordon, a masculine lesbian who, like Hall herself, identifies as an invert. Although Gordon’s attitude toward her own sexuality is anguished, the novel presents lesbianism as natural and makes a plea for greater tolerance.

Although The Well of Loneliness is not sexually explicit, it was nevertheless the subject of an obscenity trial in the UK, which resulted in all copies of the novel being ordered destroyed. The United States allowed its publication only after a long court battle. It is currently published in the UK by Virago, and by Anchor Press in the United States.

The Well of Loneliness was number seven on a list of the top 100 lesbian and gay novels compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999.

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