Zena Alkayat - Virginia Woolf: An Illustrated Biography

First published in the United States in 2016
by Chronicle Books LLC.
Text copyright 2016 by Zena Alkayat.
Illustrations copyright 2016 by Nina Cosford.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form without written
permission from the publisher. ISBN: 978-1-4521-5055-0 (epub2)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5796-2 (epub3)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5795-5 (mobi) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data available. ISBN: 978-1-4521-5022-2 (hc) First published in the UK by Frances Lincoln Ltd. Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107 www.chroniclebooks.com She sliced like a knife through
everything; at the same time
was outside, looking on.'' Mrs Dalloway'', 1925 ADELINE VIRGINIA STEPHEN WAS
BORN ON JANUARY 25, 1882.
SHE GREW UP AT 22 HYDE PARK
GATE WITH HER FEROCIOUSLY
INTELLECTUAL FATHER, LESLIE, HER
PHILANTHROPIC MOTHER, JULIA, AND
SEVEN SIBLINGS AND HALF-SIBLINGS. LESLIE (A HISTORIAN AND CRITIC)
AND JULIA (A GREAT BEAUTY)
LOVED TO REMEMBER.

THEIR HOUSE WAS FULL OF BOOKS,
LETTERS, AND MEMENTOS.

WHILE HER BROTHERS WERE AWAY
AT SCHOOL, VIRGINIA WOULD READ
AND WRITE OBSESSIVELY. HER
OLDER SISTER VANESSA SPENT
HOURS AT HER EASEL. THEY WENT ON TO DEVOTE
THEIR LIVES TO EACH OTHER. HAPPIEST DURING FAMILY HOLIDAYS
TO TALLAND HOUSE IN ST IVES,
VIRGINIA ADORED PLAYING CRICKET AND
WAS AN ACE BOWLER. HER CONTENTED CHILDHOOD WAS
CUT SHORT WHEN HER MOTHER DIED.
VIRGINIA WAS THIRTEEN YEARS OLD
AND HEARTBROKEN. HER CONTENTED CHILDHOOD WAS
CUT SHORT WHEN HER MOTHER DIED.
VIRGINIA WAS THIRTEEN YEARS OLD
AND HEARTBROKEN.

THE DEATH OF HER HALF-SISTER STELLA
FOLLOWED IN 1897. HER FATHER PASSED
AWAY IN FEBRUARY 1904. INCONSOLABLE, VIRGINIA WAS
CONSIGNED TO BED FOR MONTHS.
SHE REFUSED TO EAT AND HEARD
BIRDS SINGING IN GREEK. AFTER LESLIE'S DEATH,
VANESSA PACKED UP THE FAMILY
HOME ALONG WITH ALL ITS
HISTORY. THE STEPHENS WERE
TO MAKE A FRESH START AT
46 GORDON SQUARE, BLOOMSBURY. All the voices I used to hear
telling me to do all kinds of
wild things have gone.'' Letter, September 1904 ON THURSDAY EVENINGS,
VIRGINIA'S BROTHER THOBY WOULD
INVITE HIS CAMBRIDGE FRIENDS TO
GATHER IN THE PARLOR TO DISCUSS
ART, POLITICS, PHILOSOPHY, AND
THEIR GRAND IDEAS.

THIS WAS THE START OF THE
BOHEMIAN BLOOMSBURY GROUP''
AND VIRGINIA DELIGHTED IN
HER NEW FREEDOM. OVER THE YEARS, THE NEBULOUS
BLOOMSBURY GROUP BECAME
SHORTHAND FOR AN UNCONVENTIONAL
AND NONCONFORMIST SET
OF FRIENDS.

THE MOVE TO GORDON SQUARE
ALSO GAVE VIRGINIA A ROOM
OF HER OWN. SHE BEGAN
REVIEWING BOOKS, WRITING
ESSAYS AND ARTICLES, AND
BUILDING A REPUTATION AS
A FORMIDABLE CRITIC. Do you think I shall ever write
a really good book?'' Letter, October 1905 VIRGINIA TOOK TO
STREET HAUNTING''. SHE RAMBLED
THROUGH BLOOMSBURY TO
WATCH PASSERSBY, OVERHEAR
CONVERSATIONS, AND SPECULATE
ABOUT THE GOINGS-ON
BEHIND LAMPLIT WINDOWS.

SHE WOULD WALK VANESSA'S
SHEEPDOG, GURTH. LIFE WOULD NOT REMAIN
SO SPIRITED. BELOVED THOBY
DIED IN 1906. VANESSA MARRIED HIS
FRIEND CLIVE BELL THE FOLLOWING
YEAR, OBLIGING VIRGINIA AND HER
BROTHER ADRIAN TO MOVE A SHORT
WALK AWAY TO 29 FITZROY SQUARE. DUNCAN GRANT, MAYNARD KEYNES,
AND ROGER FRY LIVED NEARBY,
AND THE BLOOMSBURY GROUP
MEETINGS CONTINUED. TIMES WERE CHANGING...
THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT WAS
IN FULL SWING AND THERE WAS
A NEW OPENNESS AMONG
THE FRIENDS TO TALK ABOUT SEX
AND SEXUALITY.

THE BLOOMSBURY
GROUP WAS PRODUCING AVANT-GARDE
WORK AND FORGING A NEW
WAY TO LIVE. IN DECEMBER 1910, ROGER FRY
HOSTED THE EXHIBITION MANET
AND THE POST-IMPRESSIONISTS''.
IT INCLUDED RADICAL, ANTIFORMALIST
ARTWORK BY CEZANNE, VAN GOGH,
GAUGUIN AND MATISSE. LONDON
WAS LEFT SHOCKED, AMUSED,
OUTRAGED, AND CHALLENGED. On or about December 1910,
human character changed.'' Essay, 1924 AMID THE FUSION OF LIBERAL
LIVING AND POLITE EDWARDIAN
SOCIETY, VANESSA AND CLIVE
HAD TWO CHILDREN. VANESSA WAS A NATURAL MOTHER,
JUST LIKE JULIA BEFORE HER.

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