Virginia Woolf's Women

This is the first biography to concentrate exclusively on Woolf's close and inspirational friendships with the key women in her life, including the caregivers of her Victorian childhood who instilled in her a lifelong battle between creativity and convention: her taciturn sister, Vanessa Bell; enigmatic artist Dora Carrington; complex writer Katherine Mansfield; aristocratic novelist Vita Sackville-West; and riotous, militant composer Ethel Smyth.

Curtis, the founder of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, has written a biography of the writer that focuses on her relationships with women, particularly with her sister Vanessa, the artist Dora Carrington, the writers Katherine Mansfield and Vita Sackville-West, and the composer Ethel Smyth. Though the professions of these women are mentioned, the biography, which draws heavily on Woolf's diaries, maintains a personal, gossipy tone. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Vanessa Curtis cofounded the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.in 1998. She coedits the Virginia Woolf Bulletin and has published a monograph on Virginia Woolf for the Bloomsbury Heritage series. She lives and writes near Chichester Harbour, England.