The Unlit Lamp

This early work by Radclyffe Hall was originally published in 1924 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Unlit Lamp' is Hall's first novel about a young girl who dreams of studying medicine and moving to London with her friend, but struggles to leave her emotionally dependant mother. Marguerite Radclyffe Hall was born on 12th August 1880, in Bournemouth, England. Hall's first novel The Unlit Lamp (1924) was a lengthy and grim tale that proved hard to sell. It was only published following the success of the much lighter social comedy The Forge (1924), which made the best-seller list of John O'London's Weekly. Hall is a key figure in lesbian literature for her novel The Well of Loneliness (1928). This is her only work with overt lesbian themes and tells the story of the life of a masculine lesbian named Stephen Gordon.