Vita and Virginia: The Work and Friendship of V. Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf [Paperback]

Suzanne Raitt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198122772 | ISBN-13: 978-0198122777 | Publication Date: April 8, 1993

This book examines the creative intimacy between Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf, interpreting both their relationship and their work in the light of their experience as married lesbians. The contradictions and conflicts of their situation are worked out through the construction of different narratives of femininity, in letters, novels, diaries, and other texts. Vita and Virginia looks at the two women's continual renegotiation of what it means to be female, and suggests that the mutual exchange of different versions of "womanhood" is crucial to the development of their friendship. Orlando, for example, was Virginia Woolf's way of threatening Sackville-West with the extent of her own knowledge about her, as well as the celebratory love-letter it is usually assumed to be. The book also offers readings of both women's autobiographical texts, and a long-overdue study of Vita Sackville-West's work as a biographer and a novelist. Emphasizing also wider contexts, this study examines the links between homosexual desire and literary innovation, public politics and private lives. It provides an invaluable perspective on the relations between sexuality and feminism in modernism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Raitt's excellent study captures the vital spark of this love affair behind both writers' published work."--Weekend Telegraph

"It seems to me remarkable that someone who never knew Vita and Virginia can understand them so much better than me, who knew both well....A marvel of condensation and commitment."--Nigel Nicolson

"An extensive, serious, much-needed treatment of Sackville-West's writing....One of the book's strengths is its effectively and succinctly uniting literary and psychological analysis."--English Literature in Transition 1880-1920

About the Author

Raitt is editor of Woolf's Night and Day (OUP, Worlds Classics series, 1992), and author of To the Lighthouse (Harvester Wheatsheaf, Key Texts Series 1990)

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198122772
• ISBN-13: 978-0198122777
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,639,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so sure about this one, June 17, 2010

By 

sweet beluga (spain) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Vita and Virginia: The Work and Friendship of V. Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf (Paperback)

Might have to read it again. Was very much interested in this book and at the end the feeling I got was, Is this all? It has very good parts, things pointed out that make sense but it goes so deep into what sexual behavoir means and could have meant then that one gets a bit lost, it doesnt get to the point regarding Vita and Virginia in that it explains in a very intelectual (and a bit boring)way what was going on then...To one who has read virginia and vita (books, essays, letters (to each other and to others)it doesnt show anything new, no new insights into her relationship...The book centers on Vita much more than on Virginia and not enough on their relationship... but now that I write about it I feel that I might need to read it again...It is not bad (not at all) but It was not what I expected it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, October 6, 2008

By 

Robin B. Shepherd "Minimelda" (Reston, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vita and Virginia: The Work and Friendship of V. Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf (Paperback)

If you are curious about these two women, then this is a great book to get. Keeps you wanting to know what comes next.