Hannah Roche - The Outside Thing: Modernist Lesbian Romance

THE OUTSIDE THING

GENDER AND CULTURE

A Series of Columbia University Press

Nancy K. Miller and Victoria Rosner, Series Editors Carolyn G. Heilbrun (19262003) and Nancy K. Miller, Founding Editors

For a complete list of books in the series, see .

THE OUTSIDE THING

MODERNIST LESBIAN ROMANCE

_______

HANNAH ROCHE

Columbia University Press

New York

Columbia University Press gratefully acknowledges the generous support for this book provided by Publishers Circle member Nancy K. Miller in honor of Carolyn G. Heilbrun.

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E-ISBN 978-0-231-54769-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Roche, Hannah, 1985- author.

Title: The outside thing : modernist lesbian romance / Hannah Roche.

Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2019] | Series: Gender and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018048954 (print) | LCCN 2018059156 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231188166 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Lesbians writings, AmericanHistory and criticism | Lesbians writings, EnglishHistory and criticism. | Literature, Modern20th centuryHistory and criticism. | Lesbianism in literature. | Stein, Gertrude, 18741946Criticism and interpretation. | Hall, RadclyffeCriticism and interpretation. | Barnes, DjunaCriticism and interpretation.

Classification: LCC PS153.L46 (ebook) | LCC PS153.L46 R63 2019 (print) | DDC 810.9/92066dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018048954

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Cover design: Rebecca Lown

Cover image: Maurice-Louis Branger/Roger-Viollet

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY MOTHER,

CHRISTINE ROCHE

19522013

CONTENTS

O n February 24, 1933, Radclyffe Hall delivered a lecture on The Writing of Novels to members of the English Club, Oxford. Hall advised:

Do not tolerate trifling interruptions. Do not say: Oh I could not turn So-and-so out when he came. You must turn So-and-so out. If hes offended it cant be helpedif you dont turn him out your work will be offended. And the same applies to your families; never let relations get the better of you. Perhaps they wont mean to interfere with your work, but they may not take your work seriouslyit will be your business to see that they do so by taking it seriously yourselves. So when someone sticks their head in at your door and remarks that they think they are getting a cold, or someone else, even a parent maybe, looks grieved when you tell them you cant go out with them; well, all I can say is: dont be too kind-hearted. Kind literary friends who are longing to help you: Id leave that out, they say, or: Id alter that chapter. You must cover up your ears, put your head in a bucket, do anything, just so long as you are prevented from hearing.

I am pleased to report that at no point have trifling interruptions forced me to put my head in a bucket: the experience of writing The Outside Thing has been a thoroughly enjoyable one, made all the more rewarding by the support and contributions of others. I am grateful to my two anonymous readers for providing thoughtful and thought-provoking responses to an earlier draft. At Columbia University Press, I thank director Jennifer Crewe and her team, particularly Monique Briones and Miriam Grossman, and series editors Nancy K. Miller and Victoria Rosner. Books in the Gender and Culture Series have informed and inspired this study, and to be publishing my first monograph here is a privilege and a real thrill.

I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for funding three years of doctoral research and an International Placement Scheme Fellowship, and to Robert Jones, who supported my applications. Throughout my fellowship at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, I benefited from the guidance of Pat Fox and Rick Watson. I also thank Gaila Sims at the Harry Ransom Center, Jessica Tubis at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and Amber Kohl at the University of Maryland Libraries for their speedy and detailed responses to my queries.

For their invaluable advice, I thank my doctoral supervisor, Jay Prosser, and examiners Laura Doan and Tracy Hargreaves. Sally Cline, Jana Funke, Alex Goody, Steven Macnamara, Sarah Parker, Isabelle Parkinson, Julie Taylor, and Joanne Winning have provided rich intellectual stimulation and kindness. I am especially grateful to Bryony Randall for introducing me to Gertrude Stein, and for years of friendship and wisdom. I work among brilliant colleagues at the University of York, and I particularly thank Helen Smith, Judith Buchanan, Matthew Campbell, Emilie Morin, and Bryan Radley for their faith in me and this project.

I am indebted to my family for their emotional and practical support. I thank Tim, Katy, and Stanley Roche for their love, care, and good humor. Thomas and George Roche have provided very different soundtracks to the past five years of writing, and I am grateful for both. I am fortunate enough to be able to consider Sarah, Gareth, Jasmine, and Frederick Gumbs my second family. Special thanks to Sarah for her endless generosity, for rubbing out so many of my scribblings in library books, and for giving me strength in Brighton and beyond.

Katy Mullin has contributed to this project in so many ways. I cannot imagine a better amanuensis, experimental cook, carer of pets, provider of eau de vie (see ). Thank you, Katy, for romantic daily living.

This book is dedicated to the memory of my extraordinary mother, Christine Roche, to whom I owe everything.

For permission to include primary materials, I thank Stanford G. Gann, Jr., of Levin and Gann, P.A., as literary executor of the Estate of Gertrude Stein; Jonathan Lovat Dickson, as literary executor of the Estate of Radclyffe Hall; and the Authors League Fund and St. Brides Church, as joint literary executors of the Estate of Djuna Barnes. I thank Georgia Glover at David Higham Associates, Vickie Dillon and Florence Rees at A. M. Heath & Company, and Isabel Howe at the Authors League Fund. Images have been provided by the Mary Evans Picture Library; the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin; the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; and the University of Maryland Libraries.