Passionate and revealing love letters from the iconic lesbian
novelist. Radclyffe Hall, one of the most popular lesbian writers -
and personalities - in history, is getting a fresh look (see Terry
Castle's Noel Coward and Radclyffe Hall, p. 1437). Now Glasgow has
collected Hall's love letters to White Russian emigree Evguenia
Souline, which were written over a period of eight years, beginning
in 1934, when the two women met. At that time, Hall ("John" to her
friends) was 54 years old and living with Una Troubridge, her
devoted life partner of 18 years. Troubridge was devastated by
Hall's wandering affections but stayed with her, even helping with
the logistics of the affair. Troubridge contacted officials about
visas and naturalization papers for "the other woman" (since
Souline was a refugee living in Paris, arranging for her to travel
was always complicated). And when Hall became too ill to write to
Souline herself, Troubridge took dictation. The letters are
thoroughly engrossing; sexually frank, they provide a window into
the obsessive eroticism, and simple sadness, of doomed love
affairs. They also reveal much about Radclyffe Hall's politics,
which are disturbingly fascist and anti-Semitic at points. More
interestingly, the letters suggest the kind of lover she was -
caring, yet often manipulative and unreasonable. Her writing, and
her life with Una, are non-negotiable commitments, yet when
Souline's concerns - her work as a nurse, her desire for a more
exclusive relationship - threaten the affair, Hall angrily
dismisses them. She gives Souline considerable financial support
but often uses money as a means of control. Glasgow (English and
Women's Studies/Bergen Community College) has chosen these letters
well and provides helpful context. Sometimes, though, she leaves
crucial questions unasked, such as why only one letter from Souline
to John survives. These letters will be much enjoyed by the
enduring Hall fan club, and by literary enthusiasts and voyeurs.
(Kirkus Reviews)
"Passionate and revealing love letters from the iconic lesbian
novelist . . . Radclyffe Hall is getting a fresh look. . . .
Glasgow has chosen these letters well and provides helpful
context."
"--Kirkus Review"
"Many assumptions have been made about the degree to which
Radclyffe Hall's lesbian classic, "The Well of Loneliness," may be
autobiographical. Your John dismisses such notions. This exhaustive
collection of letters written between 1934 and 1942 to Evguenia
Souline, a White Russian emigre with whom Hall fell deeply in love
are detailed, intimate records of Hall's personal life and
convictions. . . . the collection is a heart-wrenching record of
how politics, money, and geography converged to undermine these
women's dreams."
"--Publisher's Weekly"
This landmark book represents the first publication of original
writing by Radclyffe Hall, author of "The Well of Loneliness," in
over 50 years.
One of the most famous and influential lesbian novelists of the
twentieth century, Hall became a cause clbre in 1928, upon the
publication of her novel "The Well of Loneliness," when the British
government brought action on behalf of the Crown to declare the
book obscene. Probably the most widely read lesbian novel ever
written, the book has been continuously in print since its first
publication and remains to this day an important part of the
literary landscape.
Expertly deciphered and edited by Hall scholar and biographer
Joanne Glasgow, Your John is a selection of Hall's love letters to
Evguenia Souline, a White Russian emigre with whom Hall fell
completely and passionately in love in the summer of 1934. Written
between this first meeting and the onset of Hall's last illness in
1942, these letters detail Hall's growing obsession, the pain to
her life partner Una Troubridge of this betrayal, and the poignant
hopelessness of a happy resolution for any of the three women. It
was ultimately this relationship, Glasgow argues, which tragically
precipitated the decline in Hall's creative work and her health.
The letters also provide important new information about her views
on lesbianism and take us well beyond the artistic limits she
imposed on the characters in "The Well of Loneliness." They shed
light on her views on religion, politics, war, and the literary and
artistic scene. Illuminating both the nature of her relationships
and her views on the current politics of the time, Your John will
greatly extend the range of our knowledge about Radclyffe
Hall."
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