Radclyffe Hall

Radclyffe Hall was the author of a controversial novel about a lesbian relationship titled The Well of Loneliness (1928) and other novels that achieved critical and commercial success. She attended King’s College in London and studied in Germany; before writing novels she composed poems, which were later published in five volumes. Her second novel, The Unlit Lamp (1924), was her first work about lesbianism. Her third book, Adam’s Breed (1926), won the prestigious Prix Fémina. The publication of The Well of Loneliness set off a public debate about the acceptability of its narrative, during which Sir Chartres Biron succeeded in banning the book for “obscene libel.” A ruling in the United States eventually found otherwise and after Hall died, the British ban was lifted.