The Well of Sleevelessness: a Tale for the Least of These Little Ones
Percy Reginald Stephensen
London: Scholartis Press, 1929
Pamph Store 638

By journalist P. R. Stephensen, who also wrote the text of the Sink of Solitude, this pamphlet responds to the obscenity judgments on both The Well of Loneliness and Norah C. James’ Sleeveless Errand. While it reserves most of its anger for the representatives of the government (one of the girls is named Jixie, the nickname of Home Secretary Joynson-Hicks), the book also renders the two female characters as rather ludicrous and simply misguided. As a period piece, it reflects very clearly the prominence of these texts and their prosecutions.