Book after Book

By Angelica Garnett Published by Pimlico Synopsis: Angelica Garnett may truly be called a child of Bloomsbury. Her Aunt was Virginia Woolf, her mother Vanessa Bell, and her father Duncan Grant, though for many years Angelica believed herself, naturally enough, the daughter of Vanessa's husband Clive. Her childhood homes, Charleston in Sussex and Gordon Square in London, were both centres of Bloomsbury activity, and she grew up surrounded by the most talked-about writers and artists of the day - Leonard and Virginia Woolf, Roger Fry, the Stracheys, Maynard Keynes, David Garnett (whom she later married), and many others. But Deceived with Kindness is also a record of a young girl's particular struggle to achieve independence from that extraordinary and intense milieu as a mature and independent woman. With an honesty that is by degrees agonising and uplifting, the author creates a vibrant, poignant picture of her mother, Vanessa Bell, of her own emergent individuality,...

Two more titles from my ever-expanding reading wish list. ** The cover images are for illustrative purposes only. If you are a publisher and would kindly like to offer me a copy of any of these books for review, I will change the cover(s) so as to reflect the edition received. ** Mrs Woolf and the Servants By Alison Light Amazon’s product description: Virginia Woolf was a feminist and a bohemian but without her servants – cooking, cleaning and keeping house - she might never have managed to write. Mrs Woolf and The Servants explores the hidden history of service. Through Virginia Woolf’s extensive diaries and letters and brilliant detective work, Alison Light chronicles the lives of those forgotten women who worked behind the scenes in Bloomsbury, and their fraught relations with one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. A Boy at the Hogarth Press By Richard Kennedy Amazon’s product description: After a rather unsuccessful education at Marlborough College, in 1926 sixteen-ye...

By Simon Watney Illustrated by Barbara Childs Published by Snake River Press With its pale rose cover and elegant layout, the sixth volume in the Snake River Press series “Books About Sussex for the Enthusiast” is dedicated to Bloomsbury in Sussex. Bloomsbury is normally associated with London but the members of the celebrated group of artists, writers and thinkers were also very fond of the rural landscape of the South Downs and enjoyed the freedom that living in the country allowed them. In this resourceful guide, Simon Watney provides an overview of the Modernist group before delving deep in what you could call its “Sussex heritage” – from Virginia Woolf’s homes in Firle and Asheham, which helped her form a strong bond with Sussex, to Monk’s House, in Rodmell, where she lived with her husband Leonard until her death. The tour continues with the Charleston farmhouse, home to Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and, perhaps, the most famous meeting place of Bloomsbury in Sussex and, last bu...