Prussic Acid with a Twist: The Well of Loneliness, M. E. Kerr, and Young Adult Readers

Deliver Us From Evie (1994) is one in a long list of young adult novels by M. E. Kerr, who is well-recognized for confronting different forms of prejudice. It is also her coming out novel and has been noted for its positive depiction of a butch lesbian character. However, it is much more than this. Kerr's novel engages with the gay and lesbian literary tradition, revising Radclyffe Hall's infamous Well of Loneliness. In doing so, it also enters into a difficult discussion taking place in queer theory—the persistence of internalized homophobia—and makes a sobering comment on the future and limits of "queer."