There is no shortage of Radclyffe Hall biographies, so it was with something approaching ennui that I made a start on this book. The effect is something like a bucket of cold water over the head! The warts-and-all biography is alive and kicking! Diana Souhami has written a book that is both fresh and thoroughly researched which forces us to do the best thing a biography can make us do - view the subject with fresh eyes. Absolutely no punches are pulled and we experience the vividness of Radclyffe Hall's life, the horrible childhood, the pointless spiritual dabbling, the suffocating upper-class lesbian coteries, we practically live her relationships with Mabel Batten, Una Troubridge, Eugenia Souline.There is a lot to dislike in this subject who in many ways behaved like a spoiled child, sacking servants and disposing of pets without a moment's thought. But there is also a shining flame of fierce courage, and we see here the huge cost of coming out as a lesbian in those early days. Three cheers for Diana Souhami!I urge you to read this book!