Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life Paperback - 2006

Summary

First line

How does a writer begin?

From the rear cover

Virginia Woolf is one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century literature. She was original, passionate, vivid, dedicated to her art. Yet most biographies of her still revolve around her social life and the Bloomsbury set.
In this fresh, absorbing book, Julia Briggs puts the writing back at the center of the life. Working closely with diaries, letters and original manuscripts, Briggs has created a masterly study of Woolf's writing process, the finished works, and their reception in the wider world. From The Voyage Out (1915) to Between the Acts (1941), Briggs traces the creation of Woolf's major novels and explores the contradictions that recur in her life and her work: her critique of marriage as a hopelessly patriarchal institution along with her enduring, if essentially platonic, devotion to her husband; her need for solitude and contemplation along with the social skills and ambitions that would make her part of the legend of Bloomsbury; her loathing of patriotism and her love of England, its landscapes and literature; her natural reserve and her deep conviction that women need to speak more openly of their bodies and their sexuality. Using Woolf's own matchless commentary on the creative process, Julia Briggs has produced a book which is a convincing, moving portrait of an artist at full stretch, but also a brilliant meditation on the whole nature of creativity.
Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life-a profound new insight into a literary genius.

From the jacket flap

Virginia Woolf is one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century literature. She was original, passionate, vivid, dedicated to her art. Yet most biographies of her still revolve around her social life and the Bloomsbury set.
In this fresh, absorbing book, Julia Briggs puts the writing back at the center of the life. Working closely with diaries, letters and original manuscripts, Briggs has created a masterly study of Woolf's writing process, the finished works, and their reception in the wider world. From The Voyage Out (1915) to Between the Acts (1941), Briggs traces the creation of Woolf's major novels and explores the contradictions that recur in her life and her work: her critique of marriage as a hopelessly patriarchal institution along with her enduring, if essentially platonic, devotion to her husband; her need for solitude and contemplation along with the social skills and ambitions that would make her part of the legend of Bloomsbury; her loathing of patriotism and her love of England, its landscapes and literature; her natural reserve and her deep conviction that women need to speak more openly of their bodies and their sexuality. Using Woolf's own matchless commentary on the creative process, Julia Briggs has produced a book which is a convincing, moving portrait of an artist at full stretch, but also a brilliant meditation on the whole nature of creativity.
Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life-a profound new insight into a literary genius.

Media reviews

Citations

• New York Times, 12/24/2006, Page 20