FAQ
Radclyffe Hall
b. 1880, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England; d. 1943, London
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.
Related Place Setting
Related Heritage Floor Entries
Djuna Barnes
Alice Pike Barney
Anne Bonney
Romaine Brooks
Eleanor Butler
Sophie de Condorcet
Stephanie de Genlis
Ninon de L'Enclos
Julie de Lespinasse
Catherine de Rambouillet
Madeleine de Sable
Madeleine de Scudéry
Marie de Sévigné
Claudine de Tencin
Marie du Deffand
Marie Geoffrin
Mata Hari
Louise Labé
Sarah Ponsonby
Mary Read
Jeanne Recamier
Marie Sallé
Lou Andreas Salomé
Gertrude Stein
Cristina Trivulzio
Renee Vivien
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum