I absolutely loved reading The Well of Loneliness. I read it for my Gay and Lesbian literature, which is very different from my Gothic class. I recommend to everyone to read this book. The story begins with a couple expecting a child. They believe that they are going to have a son, and begin calling the baby Stephen. Eventaully they have the baby, and it is a girl. They named the baby Stephen anyway because they were used to calling it that. As Stephen grows up, she tries to act more like a boy, and does not understand that she should behave like a girl. As she gets older, she understands that she is different from everyone around her. She eventaully begins to date a woman, and understands that she is a lesbian and not straight. Stephen's mother kicks her out of the house, and Stephen tries to find a place where she will be accepted.

The first half of the book is about Stephen's childhood, and the second half is about Stephen as an adult. While Stephen is a child, she enjoys to act like a boy. She would dress up as a boy character and pretend to be him. She also enjoyed to go out hunting with her father. Her mother was not very happy about the way Stephen acted, and hoped that she would become more femine as she grew older. As Stephen grows up, her mother finds out that she is a lesbian, and kicks her out of the house. Stephen moves to Paris and becomes an artist. Both parts of the book are interesting to read, but so different from each other.

From the minute I started reading the book, I was addicted to it. It is a long book, but every page that I had read was amazing. Stephen is such a unique character that the reader cannot help but love her. Stephen goes through a huge change throughout the novel and it is amazing to read about it and to see her actually change.

The novel is also so great because of it's time period. It begins in the late 1800's and goes past World War I, so not only does the main character change and grow, but she speaks about the changes in technology. One part that I really enjoyed, that has to do with the technology, is when she spoke about the first car that her family bought. She said that they were the first people within her town to own a car. The description of it was what stood out in my mind. She said the car only went 15 miles per hour. She also said that when people went into the car they had to wear a protective jacket and helmet. We obviously don't have to worry about the protective gear anymore when driving. There is also more than one person in everyone's town who owns a car. I hope you guys enjoy reading about the changes as much as I did!

I advise for everyone to read this novel. This novel may be about a homosexual character, but the main idea of the story is about a young woman trying to fit into a world where women have to act femine and cannot act like men. Stephen loved to wear pants, like men, and could not understand why she was not allowed to wear them. When she went to social functions with her family, she had to wear a skirt or a dress like a proper lady. This book is about breaking the rules of sex and gender and trying to be accepted. If you guys decide to read this, which I hope you will, please let me know what you think! I wrote a paper about this book, just like with Caleb Williams. I compared the book to Frankenstein. I won't go into the paper, since it is not completely done, but if you have read both Frankenstein and The Well of Loneliness I would love to talk to you about comparing them!