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The Well of Loneliness

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The Well of Loneliness

By: Radclyffe Hall
Narrated by: Ell Potter
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About this listen

The Well of Loneliness will go down in history as one of the world’s first published novels to depict a lesbian relationship.

After publication in 1928, it was banned for obscenity before going on to become an international best seller.

It tells the story of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family who is ostracised for falling in love with another woman, Mary Llewellyn.

Groundbreaking in its day, Radclyffe Hall’s novel ultimately makes a very clear plea in regards to homosexuality: 'Give us also the right to our existence'.

In this exclusive production, Audible’s breakout star Ell Potter (Winter Dark, Winter Rising) breathes new life into the classic novel.

Public Domain (P)2020 Audible, Ltd Classics Fiction Literary Fiction Winter British Classics

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Profile Image for Diana Mills

What a great book!

This is arguably the first lesbian novel in English. It also has lots of trans overtones: the main character (Stephen) is very masculine. Stephen's father understood when Stephen was a teen that she was probably an invert (as gay people were called at the beginning of the 1900s) but was too scared (or loved his daughter too much) to tell her. There were attempts to ban the book in the UK and the USA when it was first published. The story itself seems to start a bit slow, but gathers a tremendous pace as it finishes. In the end, Stephen loves her soul-mate (Mary) so much, that Stephen makes the sacrifice to force Mary to leave her (Stephen) to have some happiness. As she does so, the author, herself, seems to be speaking to Stephen and to us on behalf of all the inverts of the past: ‘...rise up and defend us. Acknowledge us, oh God, before the whole world. Give us also the right to our existence!’

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