Richard Dellamora

“The Well of Loneliness” is perhaps the most famous of all lesbian novels. Certainly it’s one of the earliest. This is clearly meant to be an academic text, not a popular biography, based upon analysis of Hall’s writings. Yet I was continually amazed that the author, clearly a champion of Hall’s feminism, manages to sound so – patriarchal.
The story of this transgressive, groundbreaking lesbian and writer, even on an academic level, is hardly boring. Yet the author managed to defy my considerable interest in the subject.
The text purports to give the reader insights into Hall, her life, and her social circles, but the tone is remote and dry. The “analysis” of Hall through her writing vacillates between academic jargon and pseudo-Freudian evaluations of Hall’s character and actions.
As always, this is just my opinion -your milage may vary.… (mer)