Considering Alan Ball: Essays on Sexuality, Death and America in the Television and Film Writings Book

In her own lifetime, she considered herself one of the most famous and important English writers. Odds are, you've never heard of her, which is a shame because she did a very significant thing. She wrote the first novel that openly (well, openly for the time) talked about lesbianism. In the UK, there was a court case and the book was banned. The Well of Loneliness is no encouragement for being a lesbian, it portrays a sad and isolated sort of life. It's not the most gorgeous prose I've ever read either, but it does seem honest and direct, and in terms of the history of GLBT writing and freedom of speech, it matters.
This biography covers all of Radclyffe Hall's life, with quotes from diaries, letters and journals along the way. This is not the mournful isolation of The Well of Loneliness, but a woman who spent most of her time with other women in her life, and in her bed. Radclyffe Hall emerges as a complex, messed up person with some weird ideas. These days she might well have identified as transgender, but the concept barely existed in the early part of the twentieth century, and instead she called herself an 'invert'. The biography also tells the stories of the other women in her life, and the ways in which they shaped, manipulated, encouraged and undermined the author. As a portrayal of the messed up psychology of human beings, it's powerful stuff.

The biographical story itself contains the kinds of twists and ironic parallels that would seem more likely in fiction. It also has a lot of things that may be of wider interest to those exploring period history. The Bloomsbury set go by in the background, along with other creative people of the time. We get glimpses of Italy before the Second World War, and, quite fascinatingly, a pro-fascist perspective, and Catholicism. I'm still trying to work out how a bunch of unrepentant lesbians could possibly self identify as Catholic and Fascist, and not get very confused about how to make that work, but apparently, they managed it.

An intriguing, well written book that illuminates not only the life of a complex and significant author, but that offers an unusual view of Europe in the first part of the twentieth century. Although I didn't love The Well of Loneliness as a novel, I think sheer curiosity would now incline me to pick up any other Radclyffe Hall texts that came my way.