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Restless Genius: The Story of Virginia Woolf
Discusses the life and work of the twentieth-century English author, Virginia Woolf.
- GenresNonfiction
144 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 2004
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Virginia Brackett
30 books4 followersVirginia Brackett' has written 15 books, including The Facts on File: Companion to 16th and 17th-Century British Poetry, which was named a Booklist Editor’s Choice in 2008, and A Home in the Heart: The Story of Sandra Cisneros, winner of multiple citations. Her young adult time-travel novel, Wolf Moon Murders, will be published by Vinspire Publishing in 2025. It will be the first in her Timeslips series.
In the Company of Patriots, at https://www.sunburypressstore.com/In-... was nominated for a Thorpe Menn Excellence in Literature Award
Please read The New York Journal of Books review by Tom Strelich of Brackett's most recent book, In the Company of Patriots, at https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book....
Brackett's publisher interviews her about In the Company of Patriots online
https://www.blogtalkradio.com/bookspe...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virginia.g.b..."
In the Company of Patriots, at https://www.sunburypressstore.com/In-... was nominated for a Thorpe Menn Excellence in Literature Award
Please read The New York Journal of Books review by Tom Strelich of Brackett's most recent book, In the Company of Patriots, at https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book....
Brackett's publisher interviews her about In the Company of Patriots online
https://www.blogtalkradio.com/bookspe...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/virginia.g.b..."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 15, 2017
A great short book of Virginia Woolf's life. I also enjoyed learning what a loving husband she had sticking and helping her through her mental illness. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick overview of this writer's life.
October 25, 2015
<33333. Short, yet full of so much information. Photos are a +++++++. :)
January 28, 2015
Short, but informative. Gave good context to Woolf's life and legacy.
March 7, 2020
I won't review my own book, but I want to share a review by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. I hope that you enjoy it!
Virginia Woolf
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 2004
This highly readable literary biography of Virginia Woolf moves dexterously among the many relationships and ideas that influenced the troubled writer. Brackett employs a straightforward journalistic style, but Woolf’s life was so rich and complicated that little embellishment is needed to make for fascinating reading. Brackett is forthright about the more controversial aspects of Woolf’s life and the lives of those around her, including their complicated sexualities and marital structures, their personal and professional passions and jealousies, and Woolf’s recurrent problems with depression, hallucinations, and suicidal impulses. That said, the book tends to give Woolf’s relationship with Vita Sackville-West short shrift; she mentions that it was influential in her writing and continued until Woolf’s death, but she doesn’t tell us anything about the nature of a love affair that was obviously quite important in her subject’s life. Instead, she focuses on the strong but often fractious relationship Woolf enjoyed with her sister Vanessa, and the literally life-sustaining love and support of Leonard, Woolf’s husband and business partner. Throughout, the work offers interpretive readings of Woolf’s novels, showing how and why her experimental prose continues to be influential. Brackett traces out thematic continuities that occasionally disrupt the chronology of events, but it’s a forgivable sin in light of Woolf’s formidably active intellectual life that kept her juggling multiple projects at any given time. Pictures and portraits of important figures in the Woolfs’ lives appear throughout the text; the layout is unfortunately somewhat stodgy, and the photographs reproduced in subdued pale grays. A chronology is included, as is a bibliography and an index. The work relies on endnotes without in-text citations, making this an accessible read for students new to the conventions of scholarly writing; advanced students who have read Woolf’s fiction and nonfiction prose will welcome this intimate portrait of a very important artist.
Virginia Woolf
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 2004
This highly readable literary biography of Virginia Woolf moves dexterously among the many relationships and ideas that influenced the troubled writer. Brackett employs a straightforward journalistic style, but Woolf’s life was so rich and complicated that little embellishment is needed to make for fascinating reading. Brackett is forthright about the more controversial aspects of Woolf’s life and the lives of those around her, including their complicated sexualities and marital structures, their personal and professional passions and jealousies, and Woolf’s recurrent problems with depression, hallucinations, and suicidal impulses. That said, the book tends to give Woolf’s relationship with Vita Sackville-West short shrift; she mentions that it was influential in her writing and continued until Woolf’s death, but she doesn’t tell us anything about the nature of a love affair that was obviously quite important in her subject’s life. Instead, she focuses on the strong but often fractious relationship Woolf enjoyed with her sister Vanessa, and the literally life-sustaining love and support of Leonard, Woolf’s husband and business partner. Throughout, the work offers interpretive readings of Woolf’s novels, showing how and why her experimental prose continues to be influential. Brackett traces out thematic continuities that occasionally disrupt the chronology of events, but it’s a forgivable sin in light of Woolf’s formidably active intellectual life that kept her juggling multiple projects at any given time. Pictures and portraits of important figures in the Woolfs’ lives appear throughout the text; the layout is unfortunately somewhat stodgy, and the photographs reproduced in subdued pale grays. A chronology is included, as is a bibliography and an index. The work relies on endnotes without in-text citations, making this an accessible read for students new to the conventions of scholarly writing; advanced students who have read Woolf’s fiction and nonfiction prose will welcome this intimate portrait of a very important artist.
October 28, 2016
Lovely overview of Woolf's life and work. Would recommend to anyone on a project or simply wanting to know more about Virginia!
February 27, 2017
It was a good book, and it opened my eyes to the struggles of mental illnesses and how it effects writers. Also, it shows the struggle of women in her time.
But while it was a good book, it sometimes was hard to follow along with where the book was going.
But while it was a good book, it sometimes was hard to follow along with where the book was going.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews