Radclyffe Hall

Radclyffe Hall, born Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe-Hall, was an English poet and author best known for her novel The Well of Loneliness (1928), a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. She described herself as a "congenital invert," a term from early 20th-century sexologists referring to an innate gender reversal. Hall lived openly as a lesbian in an era that condemned same-sex relationships. Her most famous work, The Well of Loneliness, was the subject of an obscenity trial in the UK and was banned, though it later became a bestseller and was translated into multiple languages. She also published several volumes of poetry and other novels, including Adam's Breed, which won the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.