Showing results by author "Virginia" in All Categories

To the Lighthouse is a landmark work of English fiction. Virginia Woolf explores perception and meaning in some of the most beautiful prose ever written, minutely detailing the characters thoughts and impressions. This unabridged version is read by Juliet Stevenson.

Too young to be whisked away by a Stannah Stairlift or to enjoy the luxury of a walk-in-bath, Marie Sharp is horrified when a friend suggests she join a bookclub as she turns 60. Bookclub people feel they must poke their brain with a pointed stick to keep it working - they're as bad as oldies who cycle across Mongolia in their 80s or paraglide in their 90s. As far as Marie is concerned, they're tragic failures who haven't come to terms with ageing.

A father's wounded heart. A mother's patient love. An eager boy, an impetuous girl, and, above all, the healing power of nature. These are the classic ingredients that fill Virginia Sorensen's Newbery Award-winning novel with a tender power and lift it to classic status.

An extended essay initially written in response to a letter pondering how to end war, Three Guineas eloquently relates women’s equal opportunity to the end of the power structures which contribute to conflict. Using the metaphor of three guineas, Woolf highlights three worthy causes to donate to in order to end violence: rebuilding education for women, supporting professional opportunities for women and the promotion of pacifism.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The unforgettable memoir by the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the woman who dared to take on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell “Make no mistake: this is a book about power, corruption, industrial-scale sex abuse and the way in which institutions sided with...

One of the most famous of all literary dogs, Flush was the golden cocker spaniel belonging to Elizabeth Barrett. In this charming and heartfelt biography, Viginia Woolf tells his story: his early days as Miss Mitford's puppy running across the fields in wild abandon and fathering another, then the years spent in his invalid mistress' bedroom in Wimpole Street.

Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.

Published in 1928, Orlando is a fictional biography that spans several centuries and follows the protagonist, Orlando, an Elizabethan nobleman who undergoes a mysterious gender transformation. The novel explores themes of gender identity, fluidity and the constraints imposed by societal norms. It challenges traditional notions of gender roles and raises questions about the nature of identity and the passage of time.

Written for Virginia Woolf's friend, the charismatic writer Vita Sackville-West, Orlando is a playful mock 'biography' of a chameleonic historical figure, immortal and ageless, who changes sex and identity on a whim. First masculine, then feminine, Orlando begins life as a young 16th-century nobleman, then gallops through three centuries to end up as a woman writer in Virginia Woolf's own time. A wry commentary on gender roles and modes of history, Orlando is also, in Woolf's own words, a light-hearted 'writer's holiday' which delights in ambiguity and capriciousness.

Kyran Loyal is the last heir to the lost throne of a forgotten planet, the figurehead of a nomadic people fleeing the galactic tyranny of a brutal regime. Davia Sifane is the unrecognized daughter of an imperial despot. When happenstance pits them against each other in battle, neither expects the outcome: they are the only two people to survive. Marooned on a barren moon, their only hope of survival is to rely on each other, but what they learn will either kill them or change the galaxy forever.

A grey dawn in 1943: On a street in Rome, two young women, complete strangers to each other, lock eyes for a single moment. One of the women, Chiara Ravello, is about to flee the occupied city for the safety of her grandparents' house in the hills. The other has been herded onto a truck with her husband and their young children and will shortly be driven off into the darkness. In that endless-seeming moment, before she has time to think about what she is doing, Chiara makes a decision that changes her life for ever.

At the heart of this history is the female body. The century-span between the crinoline and the bikini witnessed more mutations in the ideal western woman's body shape than at any other period. In this richly detailed account, Virginia Nicholson takes us to the Frontline of Beauty to reveal the power, the pain and the pleasure involved in adorning the female body. Encompassing two world wars and a revolution in women's rights, All the Rage tells the story of western female beauty from 1860 to 1960.

Virginia Howes was a mother of four doing the ironing when she had a revelation. Still broody, but not really wanting to add to her family, she realised that becoming a midwife was her true vocation. It was a long journey to get the education and qualifications she needed, especially with a young family, but she was determined and never doubted her decision. Following her training, she spent three years working within the NHS, but her naturally independent spirit fought against the constraints of the system and 12 years ago she decided to set up on her own.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre wurde weltweit bekannt als die wohl mutigste Stimme unter den Opfern von Epstein und Maxwell: Sie war es, die an die Öffentlichkeit ging und dadurch letztlich beide Serientäter ins Gefängnis brachte. Ihr Foto mit Prinz Andrew besiegelte dessen gesellschaftlichen Absturz. Doch ihre Geschichte wurde nie vollständig und in ihren eigenen Worten erzählt – bis jetzt. Im April 2025 nahm sich Giuffre das Leben. Sie hinterließ ein Memoir, an dem sie über Jahre gearbeitet hatte, mit dem klaren Wunsch, es nach ihrem Tod zu veröffentlichen.

Essays on London provide an acute and perceptive insight into early twentieth century city life. Including profound meditations on the rhythm of life on Oxford Street and the consumerism that drives it, vivid descriptions of the epic cathedrals that pave the streets and the place of religion in contemporary society, and an intimate sketch of a charming woman who is a Londoner to her core, these eloquent snapshots of the city are told with Woolf’s trademark intimacy and self-awareness.

To the Lighthouse is at once a vivid impressionist depiction of a family holiday, and a meditation on a marriage, on parenthood and childhood, on grief, tyranny, and bitterness. Its use of stream of consciousness, reminiscence, and shifting perspectives gives the novel an intimate, poetic essence, and at the time of publication in 1927 it represented an utter rejection of Victorian and Edwardian literary values.

A celebration of an author regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century. Celia Johnson reads from To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway, and Virgina Woolf is featured talking about modern literature.

A spirited new version of Virgina Woolf’s Orlando adapted with a distinctly queer point of view. This adaptation revels in the origin of the story as a love letter from Woolf to Vita Sackville West. Beginning the story as a young 16th century nobleman, Orlando’s life spans centuries, continents, lovers and genders in a sumptuous celebration of what it means to explore one’s own identity.

The Virginia Woolf Complete Collection brings together all of her most iconic works, including all 9 of her published novels, a selection of her best short stories, as well as some of her most influential non-fiction writing. From the enduring importance of her ideas of female independence in A Room of One's Own to the modern masterpieces of Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, alongside many more of her novels, criticism, and essays, this collection takes you across the broad breadth of Woolf's ever-inventive and timeless writings.

Rachel Vinrace, Virginia Woolf's first heroine, is a motherless young woman who, at 24, embarks on a sea voyage with a party of other English folk to South America. Guileless, and with only a smattering of education, Rachel is taken under the wing of her aunt Helen, who wishes to teach Rachel "how to live." Arriving in Santa Marina, a village on the South American coast, Rachel and Helen are introduced to a group of English expatriates.