Support women-owned businesses
$2.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

The Trials of Radclyffe Hall Kindle Edition

by Diana Souhami (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
Diana Souhami’s Lambda Award–winning biography is a fascinating look at one of the twentieth century’s most intriguing lesbian literary figures.

Born in 1880, Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall was a young unwanted child when her parents put an end to their tempestuous marriage by filing for divorce. She had already made tentative forays into lesbian love when her father died, leaving her an heiress at eighteen. Her income assured, Hall moved out of her mother’s house, renamed herself John in honor of her great-great-grandfather, and divided her time among hunting, traveling, and pursuing women. She began to write—songs, poetry, prose, and short stories—and achieved success as a novelist, but it was with the publication of The Well of Loneliness in 1928 that Radclyffe Hall became an internationally known figure. Dubbed the “bible of lesbianism,” the book caused a scandal on both sides of the Atlantic. Though moralistic in tone, because of its subject matter it was tried as obscene in America and in the United Kingdom, where it was censored under the Obscene Publications Act.
 
The Trials of Radclyffe Hall is a fascinating, no-holds-barred account of the life of this controversial woman, including her torrid relationship with the married artist Una Troubridge, who was Hall’s devoted partner for twenty-eight years.
 
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    551 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  4. Publication date
    December 23, 2014
  5. File size
    3.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
Next slide of product details

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Fascinating and thorough. In style, substance, insight and wit it is by far the best thing anyone has written on the fateful life of Radclyffe Hall.” —Jeanette Winterson

“So candid, so vivid, so tragicomic . . . outrageously entertaining.” —The Daily Telegraph

“A fascinating account of a woman whose . . . novel became a landmark in the history of freedom of expression.” —The Observer

“Diana Souhami has given us a gripping biography and a marvelous piece of social history.” —The Sunday Telegraph

About the Author

“Fascinating and thorough. In style, substance, insight and wit it is by far the best thing anyone has written on the fateful life of Radclyffe Hall.” —Jeanette Winterson

“So candid, so vivid, so tragicomic . . . outrageously entertaining.” —The Daily Telegraph

“A fascinating account of a woman whose . . . novel became a landmark in the history of freedom of expression.” —The Observer

“Diana Souhami has given us a gripping biography and a marvelous piece of social history.” —The Sunday Telegraph

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00P8KUFPM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (December 23, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 23, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.5 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 551 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
13 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from the United States

  • pucker
    5.0 out of 5 stars Radclyffe Hall Rediscovered
    Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I thought I knew a lot about Radclyffe Hall until I read this book. The author provides intimate details about John's double life, tracking down every possible resource to provide the reader with a more well rounded view of Hall. Buy it; you'll be glad you did.
    4 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Peter Baklava
    4.0 out of 5 stars Seances, Hypochondria, and Persecution Complexes
    Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2015
    "Trials of Radclyffe Hall" is not a pretty tale, but it offers a window of edification regarding mores in the early 20th century. The book's title is laced with heavy irony, referring both to Hall's identification with Oscar Wilde and to the fact that her miseries came equally from both her persecutors and her lovers.

    A contemporary reviewer of Hall's only well-known book, "The Well of Loneliness", remarked that he hoped that it would pave the way for better books. "Homosexuality", he wrote, "is after all as rich in comedy as in tragedy...." Diana Souhami would have amended that by adding, "and equally rich in cruelty." This biography is an expose' of people who lived as pseudo-aristocrats, cushioned by inherited wealth, dismissive of the poor, abusive to servants, and wending their way from soirees to salons. They were equally sympathetic to opera singers and to the politics of Mussolini and his thugs in Italy.

    Nevertheless, Radclyffe Hall was not a completely unsympathetic figure. A true example of a transgendered identity, Hall was determined to live life as she wanted to. As a child she dreamed of living like a heroic male figure, protecting women and speaking for life's "misfits". She grew to have Tory sensibilities, believing in order and control, disapproving of striking workers and suffragettes. But she wanted to validate the rights of the "inverts" who suffered for nothing but their innate predispositions.

    In the end, Hall showed her better nature by falling in love with, and caring for the welfare of, a "common" Russian nurse called Evgenia Souline. The last third of the biography, which details Hall's obsession with Evgenia and her struggles with her committed relationship with Una Trowbridge, is the most riveting part of the book. As Radclyffe Hall's health begins to fail, the focus of the biography shifts to Trowbridge (who had fastened on to Hall in order to share her lifestyle). So many times, Souhami writes "John cried..." , and John's (Radclyffe Hall's) sufferings are palpable for the reader. Not so with Una Trowbridge. These final chapters are a withering indictment of Trowbridge, painting her as a miserly, spiteful martinet. Books often benefit from memorable villains, and Una Trowbridge is one of the most loathsome hypocrites you will ever meet in print.

    Diana Souhami writes this book in well-measured, declarative sentences. She lets the actions of her subjects speak for themselves. In a prefatory note, Souhami confesses that she struggled to decide what to call Radclyffe Hall... whose given name was Marguerite. Since Hall preferred to be called "John" in her adult relationships, that is what Souhami uses for the greater part of the book. Since Hall was also dyslexic, Souhami elected not to correct the often grievous spelling errors in Hall's letters and manuscripts.

    Souhami went on to write a book about two famous acquaintances of Hall's, the painter Romaine Brooks and her companion, Natalie Barney.
    4 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Avery Cassell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Dishy account of a groundbreaking writer
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2019
    I adore this era in lesbian history! This is a well-written, dishy book about a ground breaking author. John (AKA Radclyffe) was a butch invert during much more difficult and restrictive times for lesbians. It’s the kind of book that you read with a friend, comparing notes, shocked at the shenanigans depicted. It would make an awesome reading group selection.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Joanne A. Garland (Midwest,USA)
    1.0 out of 5 stars "Not An Altogether Honest Portrait"
    Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Let me be the first to criticize this biography because it is worthy of criticism. This book should only be read in conjunction with "Your John-The Love Letters of Radclyffe Hall". Souhami's biography is a misrepresentation of a brilliant yet complex author, and one can easily come away with wrong (and negative) impressions of her unless one knows better after reading "Your John". This is definitely not an altogether honest portrait of the artist. For every quote Souhami should have a note in the back of her book stating where she got that quote from. But there are way too many quotes with no notes (sometimes lasting for several pages at a time), and this unfortunate trend persists throughout her book from start to finish. Some of Souhami's noteless quotes are inflamatory in nature, and they don't line up with Radclyffe's own writing contained in "Your John". Even Souhami's own made up words which she claims came from a letter dated May 19, 1935 (included in its entirety in "Your John" ) are also inflamatory. Plus Souhami gives a false impression of Radclyffe, making her appear as though she wanted Evguenia as her slave. From Souhami's book we read an incomplete quote from a letter written by Radclyffe to Evguenia: "If you're anyone's slave you're going to be mine." Souhami should have quoted the entire sentence. In "Your John" we read the following, taken from one of Radclyffe's actual letters: "I'm sorry if she's a very sick woman, but I'm not going to have you anyone's slave. If you're going to be anyone's slave you're going to be mine, only I'd hate to have you my slave-I prefer to have that the other way round." Souhami quoted only the first part of Radclyffe's sentence. Where Radclyffe inserted a comma, Souhami inserted a period, making it appear as though nothing came after that. That's deceptive on Souhami's part. It not only gives the wrong impression, it's a complete misrepresentation of Radclyffe Hall as a person. The Radclyffe Hall contained in "Your John" bears a strong resemblence to Stephen Gordon. But you don't encounter that Radclyffe Hall in Souhami's biography. That Radclyffe mostly resembles a tyrant. There are essentially two Radclyffe Halls: the one you think you know after reading Souhami's biography, and the one you believe you personally do know after reading her love letters contained in "Your John". The choice is your's as to which Radclyffe Hall you'd rather know. On a more personal note about Radclyffe, she is rightly viewed as a courageous woman for having written "The Well Of Loneliness" at a time when inversion (lesbianism) was perceived as obscene. The fact that Radclyffe became a brilliant and multifaceted writer despite having to overcome a rather severe form of dyslexia says a lot about the woman, and she further deserves our respect for that as well. To me, what she accomplished in spite of the obstacles she had to overcome is nothing short of extraordinary and inspirational.
    59 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • saisynaber
    4.0 out of 5 stars A bit mixed
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 23, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    I suppose I should be grateful to Diana Souhami, given that while writing this biography she forced the opening of important Government files on Radclyffe Hall that I have since been using myself: but I have misgivings about this book. It is, as far as I can judge, accurate in its core subject matter. However, the citations are so sloppily done and so very far from standard academic practice that it isn't always easy to tell what her sources are except for direct quotations. She also overlooks certain minor points, probably because of time restrictions on her research (for example, she claims that the Home Secretary persuaded Rudyard Kipling to offer evidence against "The Well of Loneliness": in reality, it seems to have been the other way around, but that is only made clear by papers in a very obscure private archive). The massive amount of effort that has obviously gone in on Radclyffe Hall herself is the redeeming feature: the bibliography is a most imposing list, and one that an impoverished PhD student like myself can only drool over enviously, comprising archives in places as diverse as Toronto, Texas and London. But it would have been better if they had been more tightly applied and more clearly marked in the text. It is also, on a purely aesthetic level, rather heavy going. This is hardly Souhami's fault; the bewildering variety of names, nicknames and changing nicknames would confuse the cleverest analyst; but the rather abrupt style, with its extensive use of simple sentences and occasional lack of clarification, doesn't help. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile biography of one of the twentieth century's bravest (albeit hardly one of its best) writers, and would be of great value to anyone interested in the literature, culture or history of the 1920s. But be careful if using it as a starting point for scholarly work.
    Report
  • maggienut
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating! Just imagine spending every Winter in Florence and ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Fascinating ! Just imagine spending every Winter in Florence and then escaping to the gentle English countryside when Italy became too hot . Not to mention the irregular lifestyle . I did manage to read this book from beginning to end-- -so it did hold my interest . Many books don't !
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report