(Part 1 of 2: 1928-1938)

Like most of you, I often complain that whenever I go to bookstores, lesbian titles seem little to none. So I did a little research and found we actually do have a lot of books out there, but perhaps not widely circulated (Amazon is a good stop). I’m in the mood for history so here I compiled the 10 must-read lesbian books of the early 1900s. For others who may have their own “top 10 list,” please feel free to share it with me.

#1 - The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall (1928)

It was a literary gamble. Radclyffe Hall was a successful English writer and, having established herself as an author, felt it was time to write about what would undoubtedly be a controversial topic. The novel follows the life of Stephen Gordon, a girl from a well off family, named as such because her parents were expecting a boy. From childhood it was apparent that she was no ordinary girl. Rejected by polite society, she flees to the gay Parisian nightlife that was tolerant of “inverts,” uncommon for any place at the time. While other lesbian-themed novels came out that year, The Well was unique in that it did not condemn the lesbian relationship. In the end, the main character gave a clear plea, “Give us also the right to our existence!” For this, the book was banned in several countries shortly after its publication. The persecution and the controversy it generated, however, served only to make it even more popular among the masses. So, I guess, thank you, conservative moralists.

#2 - Orlando by Virginia Woolf (1928)

Published the same year as The Well of Loneliness, Orlando escaped persecution because of its modern playfulness and wit. This book was written at a time when Vita Sackville-West, Virginia’s reputed lover, had been neglecting her in favor of scandalous affairs with other women. Rather than sulk and brood, Virginia turned her attention to crafting this semi-biographical novel about Vita’s life. Here, Vita is depicted as Orlando, a dashing young man in Elizabethan England, whose wish to remain forever young came true. However, Orlando would spend the rest of his life as a woman. Virginia wrote it to expose and explore Vita from the inside out. Vita’s son, Nigel Nicolson, describes it as “the longest and most charming love letter in literature.” It was made into a film in 1992.

#3 - The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein (1933)

Gertrude Stein was one of the most important and influential women writers of the 20th century. Although she’s an American, she spent most of her life in Paris, where she owned a salon frequented by some of the most famous names in art: Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, and various others. Alice B. Toklas, in contrast, was a woman in the background - Stein’s lifetime partner who did the editing work, acted as her secretary, looked after the dogs, kept the garden, and most of the housework. Gertrude Stein would ask to write her own book, but Toklas always replied that she already had so much to do. So Stein took it upon herself to do the writing for her. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas was written from Toklas’ point of view, reflecting her mind, her language, her private view of Gertrude, but penned by Gertrude Stein. It quickly became a bestseller and is Stein’s most enduring work.

#4 - The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman (1934)

Based on a true story, this play is a drama set in an all-girls boarding school run by two women, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie. Trouble begins when an angry student, Mary Tilford, runs away from the school. To avoid being sent back, she tells her grandmother that the two headmistresses are having a lesbian affair. The accusation proceeds to destroy the women’s careers, relationships and lives. The play was a critical and box office success. It was first staged on Broadway at Maxine Elliott’s Theatre in 1934, where it ran for over 2 years, and in 1936 was put on at London’s Gate Theatre Studio and Dublin’s Gate Theatre. In 1961, the play was adapted to a film starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. If you’ve seen the movie If These Walls Could Talk 2, The Children’s Hour was the film the two elder women were watching at the beginning of the movie.

#5 - Torchlight to Valhalla by Gale Wilhelm (1938)

The novel is considered a classic in lesbian fiction, being one of the few hardbound novels with lesbian content to be published in the early 20th century. Quite rare for lesbian fiction in this time, the resolution is actually satisfactory for the lesbian characters. The two women end up together, while the man between them capitulates and states his understanding. It was Wilhelm’s second novel after We Too Are Drifting, also containing lesbian themes. One review of the book noted that, “Wilhelm has created a work of self-exploration that bears little resemblance to the tormented world of Hall’s Stephen Gordon.” Another review says, “Torchlight to Valhalla is not a story for sensation-mongers, nor is it for those who prefer ‘morals’ packaged up in simple bundles of black and white. It is, rather, a novel for readers who accept the author’s quiet candor and appreciate the scrupulous artistry with which she has descried a not-too-happy kind of happiness.”

To be continued…