Vita and Harold: The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson

by Vita Sackville-West, Harold Nicolson, Nigel Nicolson (Editor)

A collection of correspondence between the poet-novelist and her diplomat-politician-author husband spans fifty years to recount their turbulent and open marriage, Vita's lesbian affair with Violet Trefusis, their colorful circle of friends, and more. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir

452 pages, Hardcover

First published June 17, 1992

About the author

Novels of British writer Victoria Mary Sackville-West, known as Vita, include The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931).

This prolific English author, poet, and memoirist in the early 20th century lived not so privately.
While married to the diplomat Harold Nicolson, she conducted a series of scandalous amorous liaisons with many women, including the brilliant Virginia Woolf. They had an open marriage. Both Sackville-West and her husband had same-sex relationships. Her exuberant aristocratic life was one of inordinate privilege and way ahead of her time. She frequently traveled to Europe in the company of one or the other of her lovers and often dressed as a man to be able to gain access to places where only the couples could go. Gardening, like writing, was a passion Vita cherished with the certainty of a vocation: she wrote books on the topic and constructed the gardens of the castle of Sissinghurst, one of England's most beautiful gardens at her home.

She published her first book Poems of East and West in 1917. She followed this with a novel, Heritage, in 1919. A second novel, The Heir (1922), dealt with her feelings about her family. Her next book, Knole and the Sackvilles (1922), covered her family history. The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931) are perhaps her best known novels today. In the latter, the elderly Lady Slane courageously embraces a long suppressed sense of freedom and whimsy after a lifetime of convention. In 1948 she was appointed a Companion of Honour for her services to literature. She continued to develop her garden at Sissinghurst Castle and for many years wrote a weekly gardening column for The Observer. In 1955 she was awarded the gold Veitch medal of the Royal Horticultural Society. In her last decade she published a further biography, Daughter of France (1959) and a final novel, No Signposts in the Sea (1961).

She died of cancer on June 2, 1962.

Reviews

[JoEllen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about so much more than being a deeply-in-love with each other bi-sexual couple. Harold is in the room for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Vita writes of a beautiful twilight in Kent. She is following the tail of an errant lamb through the tall grass and seeing Sissinghurst as the last rays of sun outline the tower--and the sentry. She talks of a German plane being shot down from the same tower. She and Harold plan frankly for their escape by separate paths-she from Kent and he from London-and where they should meet in Devon when the Germans invade across the Channel. This is lively, honest. They garden in Teheran; Germany; England. They raise their children. The world goes through two wars. They publish. Friends die. They make new friends. If you want a distinct view of a slice of our world from people who traveled and read and thought and reported every detail to each other, read this. Leave your preconceptions at home if you travel with them. They wouldn't have liked you for them when they were alive; they make no room for them now.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading snatches of these letters in what time I have to spare here and there. My favorite letters so far have been the one Harold wrote from Versailles with grumpy quotes from Balfour about the "irresponsible and ignorant three men," dividing up the world and the one he wrote from Teheran where some woman had seen a picture of Vita holding their firstborn and said, "I like that woman. She knows how to hold a baby." (Vita was not very motherly) and Harold decided to draw a replacement of what Vita was more likely doing with the kids and sent it in a letter. Oh, and the one where Vita hates on Proust for wasting his talents on "women and snobbery."

Adore!

[Lildred · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only we all still wrote letters… though it wouldn’t be possible to emulate their incredible writing, their love and this entire bizarre, beautiful relationship; so it’s probably for the best we don’t. All that said, WhatsApp and FaceTime would have been transformative for them.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the letters between Vita and Harold, especially Harold's. His were often very poignant, painful and beautifully written. The letters are a testimony to their enduring friendship and marriage and illuminate the the background of WWII and their time spend apart.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just can't stay away from these two...

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insight into a rare example of a happy marriage, although I suspect that Vita might have actually been gay given her number of affairs with women. At one point she famously eloped with a woman and had to be persuaded to come back. In any case, they recovered and seemed to have had a strong relationship that remained resilient over the years. Overall, I envied/admired them as they appeared to lead very rich, full and happy lives.

Harold's verve for life is infectious; he's fiercely intelligent and his letters provide an insight into many of the biggest historical events of the day. He has an indefatigable love of life which comes across in all his letters.

[Lildred · Rating 5 out of 5]

If only we all still wrote letters… though it wouldn’t be possible to emulate their incredible writing, their love and this entire bizarre, beautifulIf only we all still wrote letters… though it wouldn’t be possible to emulate their incredible writing, their love and this entire bizarre, beautiful relationship; so it’s probably for the best we don’t. All that said, WhatsApp and FaceTime would have been transformative for them....more