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Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell
This is the story of a deep and close relationship between two sisters - Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. The influence they exerted over each others lives, their competitiveness, the fierce love they had for each other and also their intense rivalry is explored here with subtlety and compassion. The thoughts, motives and actions of these two remarkably artistic women who jointly created the Bloomsbury Group is revealed with all its intricacies in this moving biography.
338 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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About the author
Jane Dunn
32 books144 followersJane Dunn is a leading biographer, the author of Moon in Eclipse: A Life of Mary Shelley, A Very Close Conspiracy: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Wolf, and Antonia White: A Life. Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens was published in the spring of 2003 and spent seven weeks in the top ten of the Sunday Times bestseller list. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Dunn lives near Bath with her husband, the linguist and writer Nicholas Ostler. Her most recent book is Read My Heart.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 3, 2015
3.5 stars rounded up
This is a very interesting book about Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf; it isn’t a joint biography. Dunn is looking at their relationship with and influence on each other over the years the rivalry and competitiveness as well as love and support. The relationship was certainly complex and as Dunn points out, symbiotic. This relationship was at the centre of Bloomsbury and to understand the whole Bloomsbury phenomenon you have to look at Vanessa and Virginia.
The book is very informative and Dunn has accessed the mountains of letters and correspondence that surround the sisters. There are of course many lines of thought and areas of consideration and Dunn follows up some of them better than others.
Dunn does consider Virginia’s sexual abuse at the hands of George Duckworth (her step-brother) and its effects over the years. There is some analysis, but I do wonder whether given the depth and intensity of Virginia’s depression, Dunn has underestimated its effect. She seems to think that the abuse certainly affected Virginia’s sexuality and sexual relations, but there seems to be too little connection made with the rest of life. Others have made this criticism as well and I think this could have been examined and interpreted in a wider way.
Throughout the book Vanessa is portrayed as someone who is centred on maternal virtue and sexual fulfilment, especially in the 1910s and 20s; whilst Virginia is seen as the embodiment of the intellectual life. Dunn argues they each had these areas and when the other seemed to be encroaching on their own particular area, tensions ensued. This seemed to me to be an over-simplification.
Dunn does explain and illustrate well the artist/writer relationship that the sisters had. Woolf’s writing style has been described as ekphrastic (the weaving in of descriptions of art or artwork which then becomes part of work of literature) and this works in tension with Bell’s visual aesthetic. The work of the Hogarth Press and Vanessa’s illustration of Virginia’s work is well outlined.
Dunn does draw the portraits of those surrounding the sisters very well and there is quite a procession over the years. The importance of Duncan Grant to Vanessa and Virginia’s relationships with women like Vita Sackville-West are all explored. On the whole the book is interesting and there are lots of lines of thought to follow for those interested in Woolf and Bloomsbury. There are flaws (in my opinion), but it is interesting and informative.
This is a very interesting book about Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf; it isn’t a joint biography. Dunn is looking at their relationship with and influence on each other over the years the rivalry and competitiveness as well as love and support. The relationship was certainly complex and as Dunn points out, symbiotic. This relationship was at the centre of Bloomsbury and to understand the whole Bloomsbury phenomenon you have to look at Vanessa and Virginia.
The book is very informative and Dunn has accessed the mountains of letters and correspondence that surround the sisters. There are of course many lines of thought and areas of consideration and Dunn follows up some of them better than others.
Dunn does consider Virginia’s sexual abuse at the hands of George Duckworth (her step-brother) and its effects over the years. There is some analysis, but I do wonder whether given the depth and intensity of Virginia’s depression, Dunn has underestimated its effect. She seems to think that the abuse certainly affected Virginia’s sexuality and sexual relations, but there seems to be too little connection made with the rest of life. Others have made this criticism as well and I think this could have been examined and interpreted in a wider way.
Throughout the book Vanessa is portrayed as someone who is centred on maternal virtue and sexual fulfilment, especially in the 1910s and 20s; whilst Virginia is seen as the embodiment of the intellectual life. Dunn argues they each had these areas and when the other seemed to be encroaching on their own particular area, tensions ensued. This seemed to me to be an over-simplification.
Dunn does explain and illustrate well the artist/writer relationship that the sisters had. Woolf’s writing style has been described as ekphrastic (the weaving in of descriptions of art or artwork which then becomes part of work of literature) and this works in tension with Bell’s visual aesthetic. The work of the Hogarth Press and Vanessa’s illustration of Virginia’s work is well outlined.
Dunn does draw the portraits of those surrounding the sisters very well and there is quite a procession over the years. The importance of Duncan Grant to Vanessa and Virginia’s relationships with women like Vita Sackville-West are all explored. On the whole the book is interesting and there are lots of lines of thought to follow for those interested in Woolf and Bloomsbury. There are flaws (in my opinion), but it is interesting and informative.
May 14, 2023
We are merely wild, odd, innocent, artless, eccentric and industrious beyond words.
With so much having been written about Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group, it's hard to find a new angle on these lives but Dunn has managed it by focusing on the sisterly relationship between Virginia and Vanessa. Obsessively, almost erotically, close in some ways but with a competitive edge, the Stephen sisters have a complex relationship that can be hard to pin down with precision, not least because of the way it fluctuates over time.
Rather than write a straightforward biography, Dunn sets out the shared childhood then almost writes a series of themed essays that look at topics such as sexual and erotic love relationships, the importance of creative work, and the presence of death. Big historical moments like WW1 barely feature as these keep a close angle on the women with lavish excerpts from letters, diaries and other writings.
There can be a slight tendency to repetition and a sort of dichotomy that Dunn also asserts in her Elizabeth and Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens though here it is more nuanced: Vanessa as the 'sexual' and maternal sister; Virginia as the intellectual one. That said, the individual essays drill down and complicate Virginia's portrait, taking issue with the usual representation of her as frigid and almost asexual. Some of the most moving moments are seeing how much Virginia wanted children while Leonard makes the decision they should remain childless, possibly from fear of the Stephen mental fragilities being passed on.
Overall, I found this sensitively written and absorbing - probably not the best place for a reader new to the lives of the Stephen sisters, but good for a nuanced portrait of two talented, fascinating and yet troubled women.
October 2, 2022
It took me a while to finish 'A Very Close Conspiracy '. This biography of the two Stephen sisters analyses the close relationship between the two sisters. Vanessa the maternal , artistic and stable one. Virginia the melancholic, intellectual and driven by a need to be admired.
In parts the book is repetitive and also informative with discussion about their marriages, children of Vanessa's and for Virginia's children her novels. The unrequited love of Vanessa and the gay Duncan. In contrast, the stable marriage of Virginia and Leonard through her mental breakdowns.
I enjoyed reading about both sisters and their upbringing with a weak father and a mother that died to young. The deaths of their brother and sister had a profound impact on both sisters. Through all the tragedies and obstacles they both managed full, rich, challenging and rewarding lives with their art and literature.
In parts the book is repetitive and also informative with discussion about their marriages, children of Vanessa's and for Virginia's children her novels. The unrequited love of Vanessa and the gay Duncan. In contrast, the stable marriage of Virginia and Leonard through her mental breakdowns.
I enjoyed reading about both sisters and their upbringing with a weak father and a mother that died to young. The deaths of their brother and sister had a profound impact on both sisters. Through all the tragedies and obstacles they both managed full, rich, challenging and rewarding lives with their art and literature.
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August 2, 2019This was a dual biography about the lives and relationship between two sisters. Modernist novelist Virginia Woolf and painter & interior designer Vanessa Bell.
The first 4 chapters of the book have a linear narrative from the origins of their parents to Virginia's and Vanessa's first years of independence. The last 7 chapters of the book are not always in linear narrative, they are mostly thematic; Virginia and Vanessa as grownup married women struggling with their fears, imagination, past, art & life and so on.
I found Virginia Woolf to be an unlikable and neurotic person. I wouldn't have enjoyed living with her. For a brief visit yes, but her character was oppressive. I hope I don't sound like a bad person, but that's the picture of Virginia Woolf that was formed by reading this book.
Overall this book was an enjoyable journey in the lives of Virginia and Vanessa, two sisters that were almost like two living parts of one entity. 3.6 stars
The first 4 chapters of the book have a linear narrative from the origins of their parents to Virginia's and Vanessa's first years of independence. The last 7 chapters of the book are not always in linear narrative, they are mostly thematic; Virginia and Vanessa as grownup married women struggling with their fears, imagination, past, art & life and so on.
I found Virginia Woolf to be an unlikable and neurotic person. I wouldn't have enjoyed living with her. For a brief visit yes, but her character was oppressive. I hope I don't sound like a bad person, but that's the picture of Virginia Woolf that was formed by reading this book.
Overall this book was an enjoyable journey in the lives of Virginia and Vanessa, two sisters that were almost like two living parts of one entity. 3.6 stars
September 8, 2012
I love biographies. I especially love biographies of women and what's not to love about Virginia and Vanessa together in a book? A great deal of research has gone into this book and to good effect. The personal papers of these complex history making women have yielded treasure.
What I found disappointing was the author's apparent difficulty at coming to grips with the sexual abuse reported by Virginia as having occurred in her childhood. I came to this book with a vague sense of Virginia's life from reading about other women she knew like Vita Sackville-West. Her experience of child abuse is perhaps fairly commonly known. I felt like the author tiptoed around the abuse, minimising it, drawing together many strands of the sisters' lives but treating the material around abuse in a superficial manner. That Virginia experienced severe and debilitating depression and eventually committed suicide seemed to be treated as some separate aberration, as if the abuse had made her sexually 'frigid' but otherwise mostly undamaged. I think this leaves the book with a peculiarly disjointed feeling which stands out because so much else is well managed. I think other readers may well enjoy much about it which was lost for me in my irritation and sadness at such monumental wounds being glossed over.
Could a feminist author with more grounding in sexual abuse please look over the material and write about the sisters? This book is perhaps a good introduction to some compelling issues and utterly brilliant women and it has piqued my interest enough that I'm actively looking for more information on both Virginia and Vanessa.
What I found disappointing was the author's apparent difficulty at coming to grips with the sexual abuse reported by Virginia as having occurred in her childhood. I came to this book with a vague sense of Virginia's life from reading about other women she knew like Vita Sackville-West. Her experience of child abuse is perhaps fairly commonly known. I felt like the author tiptoed around the abuse, minimising it, drawing together many strands of the sisters' lives but treating the material around abuse in a superficial manner. That Virginia experienced severe and debilitating depression and eventually committed suicide seemed to be treated as some separate aberration, as if the abuse had made her sexually 'frigid' but otherwise mostly undamaged. I think this leaves the book with a peculiarly disjointed feeling which stands out because so much else is well managed. I think other readers may well enjoy much about it which was lost for me in my irritation and sadness at such monumental wounds being glossed over.
Could a feminist author with more grounding in sexual abuse please look over the material and write about the sisters? This book is perhaps a good introduction to some compelling issues and utterly brilliant women and it has piqued my interest enough that I'm actively looking for more information on both Virginia and Vanessa.
September 5, 2017
I'm a slow non fiction reader at the best of times but this did have some problems. I think an assumption of the readers knowledge - Dunn admits that the book isn't chronological as it covers themes rather than linear dates. So she may be writing about Leonard Woolf before he marries Virginia or assuming that you'll work that out.
Regardless it's a brilliant book. My interest has always been Virginia Woolf but it is Vanessa Bell who really shows her importance in this book. How she moved them away from their step brothers, how she developed the Bloomsbury group, how she ventured into life and society first, how she made Charleston into the idyll they all needed. Well worth reading even if you only have a passing interest in any of the people involved.
Regardless it's a brilliant book. My interest has always been Virginia Woolf but it is Vanessa Bell who really shows her importance in this book. How she moved them away from their step brothers, how she developed the Bloomsbury group, how she ventured into life and society first, how she made Charleston into the idyll they all needed. Well worth reading even if you only have a passing interest in any of the people involved.
January 28, 2018
No fiction author could ever write a tale of a sisterly bond so filled with love, jealousy, rivalry, mutual dependence, possessiveness and passion. I admit that I was immersed in it right from the very beginning. As someone who likes Virginia Woolf, I have obviously read a bit about her life - about her marriage, her mental illness, her suicide. But never about her childhood, her youth or about her beloved sister, Vanessa Bell. "A Very Close Conspiracy" changed that and I'm very glad I found it in the nearby library by pure coincidence. So I really encourage everyone to read it - it's fascinating, it really is - but at the same time...
Yes, I do have some complaints. Quite a list, actually.
First, in my opinion Jane Dunn didn't have the tools necessary to write about the subject of sexual abuse, tried to simplify the issue and used it as an explanation for almost everything that happened in the sisters' lives. I also believe it was necessary not only to look more closely at the impact the abuse had on Vanessa and Virginia's lives but also to build a broader analysis of the Victorian society that allowed for such things to happen. It's hard to believe that no one noticed anything in a house constantly full of people, especially since the author mentioned how George used to touch them inappropriately not only in private but also in the presents of the other family members or guests. The silence of the spectators had to affect the teenage sisters just like the abuse itself did but Dunn said not a single word about it.
Second, I didn't like how Dunn was trying to play down the importance of Virginia's interest in women by saying it was neither sexual nor romantic and that they only reminded her of her late mother even though the author did not present any proof. At the same time she was only connecting Woolf's lack of investment in erotic relationships with men to the fact that she was abused by one. All of it sounded like cheap psychoanalysis to me, something that never should be done in academic publications.
Third, the repetitiveness! Especially towards the ending. I felt as if I were reading the same thing over and over again.
Fourth, what happened to Vanessa? Virginia passed away but her sister lived for twenty more years and we learn almost nothing about it. I understand it was a story of a relationship between sisters - unfortunately the way Dunn ended the book made me feel as if Vanessa's life wasn't as important as Virginia's. As if she wasn't an equal protagonist here but only a famous writer's older sibling.
I could go on and on for much longer, mainly about points one and two, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on those subjects, but I feel like I've complained enough. It's a heavily flawed book, I had to talk about what disappointed me, yet I find it really good and important. We don't get to read stories like the one of Vanessa and Virginia very often and I think Dunn did a good job capturing the complexity of the relationship between the sisters. "A Very Close Conspiracy" is worth reading for that reason alone.
Yes, I do have some complaints. Quite a list, actually.
First, in my opinion Jane Dunn didn't have the tools necessary to write about the subject of sexual abuse, tried to simplify the issue and used it as an explanation for almost everything that happened in the sisters' lives. I also believe it was necessary not only to look more closely at the impact the abuse had on Vanessa and Virginia's lives but also to build a broader analysis of the Victorian society that allowed for such things to happen. It's hard to believe that no one noticed anything in a house constantly full of people, especially since the author mentioned how George used to touch them inappropriately not only in private but also in the presents of the other family members or guests. The silence of the spectators had to affect the teenage sisters just like the abuse itself did but Dunn said not a single word about it.
Second, I didn't like how Dunn was trying to play down the importance of Virginia's interest in women by saying it was neither sexual nor romantic and that they only reminded her of her late mother even though the author did not present any proof. At the same time she was only connecting Woolf's lack of investment in erotic relationships with men to the fact that she was abused by one. All of it sounded like cheap psychoanalysis to me, something that never should be done in academic publications.
Third, the repetitiveness! Especially towards the ending. I felt as if I were reading the same thing over and over again.
Fourth, what happened to Vanessa? Virginia passed away but her sister lived for twenty more years and we learn almost nothing about it. I understand it was a story of a relationship between sisters - unfortunately the way Dunn ended the book made me feel as if Vanessa's life wasn't as important as Virginia's. As if she wasn't an equal protagonist here but only a famous writer's older sibling.
I could go on and on for much longer, mainly about points one and two, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on those subjects, but I feel like I've complained enough. It's a heavily flawed book, I had to talk about what disappointed me, yet I find it really good and important. We don't get to read stories like the one of Vanessa and Virginia very often and I think Dunn did a good job capturing the complexity of the relationship between the sisters. "A Very Close Conspiracy" is worth reading for that reason alone.
March 19, 2021
I just “discovered” Vanessa Bell through a 3 part BBC series ‘Life in Squares’ and have become ravenous for anything Bloomsbury. While I thought the theory of a biographical approach comparing the relationship of the sisters was a good one, in execution, it really fell short. In addition to pop psychology and tedious repetition, I really disliked the author’s contempt or condescension of Vanessa compared to Virginia. I felt her attitude was dismissive and demeaning, shrinking down Vanessa’s approach to painting and creative arts as a product of a repressed, depressed, anti-social enabling woman.
April 22, 2019
It's always enjoyable to read about these two literary and artistic sisters. Jane Dunn takes the line that they were very close, so close that they were essential to each other. The book follows their lives in close detail, using letters, diaries, and historical accounts. Her development of Vanessa's life was particularly interesting, it gave me a new interest in Roger Fry, a Bloomsbury figure who was Vanessa's lover until she fell for Duncan Grant. Both sisters in their own way had periods in their lives of glory and grief. Vanessa lived 20 years after Virginia's death. Grandchildren brought joy into her last year's, and ain't that the truth.
April 24, 2018
I'm not finished with this book yet. I'd say I'm about halfway through it.
Don't know about anyone else, but I'm finding it slow going. I am extremely interested and fascinated by the Bloomsbury Group, and particularly by Vanessa Bell, so I'd really like to finish reading it.
My main complaint is that the author keeps repeating herself. I understand that this is not a "timeline-style" biography, but that each chapter addresses particular issues in the sisters' lives. But I keep hearing the same thing over and over!
I kind of wish I'd borrowed it from the library instead of buying it.
UPDATE: Finally finished with this book. The repetitive style made it slow going. I will probably be giving it away as I can't see ever reading it again.
Don't know about anyone else, but I'm finding it slow going. I am extremely interested and fascinated by the Bloomsbury Group, and particularly by Vanessa Bell, so I'd really like to finish reading it.
My main complaint is that the author keeps repeating herself. I understand that this is not a "timeline-style" biography, but that each chapter addresses particular issues in the sisters' lives. But I keep hearing the same thing over and over!
I kind of wish I'd borrowed it from the library instead of buying it.
UPDATE: Finally finished with this book. The repetitive style made it slow going. I will probably be giving it away as I can't see ever reading it again.
May 14, 2016
The subtitle of this book, "A Very Close Conspiracy," refers to both the artistic/professional ambitions of sisters Virginia and Vanessa Stephen and their emotional compact - forged during a difficult childhood marked with tragic losses. In one decade - beginning with their mother's death in 1895, when Virginia was only 13 - the sisters were to suffer through the deaths of both parents, their half-sister Stella and their beloved brother Thoby. Not only did these early losses throw them more closely together, emotionally, but they also created a lifelong anxiety in both sisters that revealed itself in different ways. Author Jane Dunn argues, more successfully than not, that the sisters' relationships with each other was -perhaps slightly more in Virginia's case - the primary relationship of both of their lives. This is a very psychological book, much concerned with family dynamics, and does not attempt to be comprehensive or linear in describing the sisters' lives. Rather, it is interested in the development of their personalities in both cooperation and competition with one another, and is more thematic in its progression. It ends with Virginia's death in 1941, even though Vanessa lived for another twenty years.
In her Preface, Dunn writes about the sororal relationship: "For many there is the longing to be one and, at the same time, the struggle to be two. In this way, the relationship of sisters has the potential for intense rivalry, competitiveness, suppression, conspiracy, and fierce protective love." I was reminded, when reading this book, of a literature class I took in graduate school on Austen and Bronte. When we began reading Pride and Prejudice, the professor was interested in exploring the dynamics between sisters - and how each sister was ascribed specific characteristics, and a role within the family, and how difficult it was to be a more whole and complex person within this family ordering. Dunn argues that very early on Virginia and Vanessa decided on their ambition in life: Virginia was to be a writer, while Vanessa was to be a painter. Despite the Victorian atmosphere of their childhood home, in which boys were given both a superior education and assumed to be of greater importance, the sisters fought hard for their chosen vocations and supported each other in their respective ambitions. But other qualities/pursuits/relationships were not so easily divided or shared, and throughout their lives there was a tension and sometimes all too rigid apportioning of what 'belonged' to Vanessa and what to Virginia. Many of the odd circumstances of their lives - for instance, the close relationship between Vanessa's husband Clive Bell and Virginia - can probably only be 'explained' or 'understood' from within the sisterly bond that Dunn so ably describes. I thought this book was incredibly strong on describing the personalities of the sisters; but a slight drawback to Dunn's approach is the feeling of repetition as her theories are reiterated against such themes as mental illness, art and romantic relationships. All in all, though, a very absorbing and persuasive exposition of two of the most fascinating 20th century women.
In her Preface, Dunn writes about the sororal relationship: "For many there is the longing to be one and, at the same time, the struggle to be two. In this way, the relationship of sisters has the potential for intense rivalry, competitiveness, suppression, conspiracy, and fierce protective love." I was reminded, when reading this book, of a literature class I took in graduate school on Austen and Bronte. When we began reading Pride and Prejudice, the professor was interested in exploring the dynamics between sisters - and how each sister was ascribed specific characteristics, and a role within the family, and how difficult it was to be a more whole and complex person within this family ordering. Dunn argues that very early on Virginia and Vanessa decided on their ambition in life: Virginia was to be a writer, while Vanessa was to be a painter. Despite the Victorian atmosphere of their childhood home, in which boys were given both a superior education and assumed to be of greater importance, the sisters fought hard for their chosen vocations and supported each other in their respective ambitions. But other qualities/pursuits/relationships were not so easily divided or shared, and throughout their lives there was a tension and sometimes all too rigid apportioning of what 'belonged' to Vanessa and what to Virginia. Many of the odd circumstances of their lives - for instance, the close relationship between Vanessa's husband Clive Bell and Virginia - can probably only be 'explained' or 'understood' from within the sisterly bond that Dunn so ably describes. I thought this book was incredibly strong on describing the personalities of the sisters; but a slight drawback to Dunn's approach is the feeling of repetition as her theories are reiterated against such themes as mental illness, art and romantic relationships. All in all, though, a very absorbing and persuasive exposition of two of the most fascinating 20th century women.
December 31, 2014
Someone I worked with had this quote on their desk (or something very like it):
'As soon as I can find the time I am going to have a nervous breakdown. I deserve it and no one is going to deprive me of it.'
It was not entirely a joke; it was also a recognition that one's emotional needs do not always come first.
In the Stephen's household women's emotional needs did not come first and were usually unrecognised as existing at all. Their role was to care for the emotional needs of the men and the men were needy. This caring role was taken first by Julia Stephen as wife and mother, then in turn by Stella Duckworth and Vanessa Stephen as the eldest girl in the household at the time. Virginia was never asked to fulfil that role. Would she have been more emotionally stable if she had or was she psychologically incapable of it? Vanessa seems to have had the same emotional needs as her younger sister, the same tendency to periods of depression and to have suffered the same abuse at the hands of her step-brother, but to have subsumed them in trying to care for others in the same way as her mother and step-sister did, although not to quite the same self-sacrificing extent.
Virginia was an intelligent, analytical, perfectionist writer and she wrote about the emotional turmoil in her family in her novels. She never came to terms with it. It is not certain whether Vanessa did or not, but she did manage to survive it at the cost of diminishing herself. It is understandable that the sisters had such a close bond. It is more surprising that the bond was weakened, but not destroyed, by Virginia and Clive's love affair. Vanessa gave others' emotional needs a higher priority than her own again. I am not sure which sister suffered the greater tragedy.
'As soon as I can find the time I am going to have a nervous breakdown. I deserve it and no one is going to deprive me of it.'
It was not entirely a joke; it was also a recognition that one's emotional needs do not always come first.
In the Stephen's household women's emotional needs did not come first and were usually unrecognised as existing at all. Their role was to care for the emotional needs of the men and the men were needy. This caring role was taken first by Julia Stephen as wife and mother, then in turn by Stella Duckworth and Vanessa Stephen as the eldest girl in the household at the time. Virginia was never asked to fulfil that role. Would she have been more emotionally stable if she had or was she psychologically incapable of it? Vanessa seems to have had the same emotional needs as her younger sister, the same tendency to periods of depression and to have suffered the same abuse at the hands of her step-brother, but to have subsumed them in trying to care for others in the same way as her mother and step-sister did, although not to quite the same self-sacrificing extent.
Virginia was an intelligent, analytical, perfectionist writer and she wrote about the emotional turmoil in her family in her novels. She never came to terms with it. It is not certain whether Vanessa did or not, but she did manage to survive it at the cost of diminishing herself. It is understandable that the sisters had such a close bond. It is more surprising that the bond was weakened, but not destroyed, by Virginia and Clive's love affair. Vanessa gave others' emotional needs a higher priority than her own again. I am not sure which sister suffered the greater tragedy.
April 9, 2015
"A Very Close Conspiracy" provides a lot of information on the Stephen's sisters along with some interesting interpretations of their relationship by the author (and a nice selection of illustrations); however, the book needed some serious editing. It was so redundant on some topics that I started losing interest while almost completely ignoring other topics. I understand that the book was primarily about Vanessa and Virginia, but given the important roles that Roger Fry, Duncan Grant, Clive Bell, and Leonard Woolf were to play in their lives, they are largely ignored in this biography; meanwhile we are bludgeoned over and over again with the concept of Vanessa as the fertile mother and Virginia as the barren intellectual.
Their relationship with their stepbrother George is also bandied about frequently with little elaboration. Instead we get the same little hints and innuendos throughout the book, but Dunn holds back when it comes to actually assigning any blame for their later problems on what seems to have been an incestuous and abusive relationship. I find this rather odd since Dunn seems very willing to lay blame on their mother for being somewhat absent and to apply Jungian and Freudian theories to their relationship to each other. One of the aspects of their relationship that I found most odd, the bizarre "baby talk", is largely ignored by Dunn. Does no one else find their letters slightly disturbing?
Overall this was an okay book, but as it focuses on the relationship between the sisters, at the expense of other aspects of their lives that a reader might find interesting, I would not recommend it as a general biography of either Vanessa Bell or Virginia Woolf.
Their relationship with their stepbrother George is also bandied about frequently with little elaboration. Instead we get the same little hints and innuendos throughout the book, but Dunn holds back when it comes to actually assigning any blame for their later problems on what seems to have been an incestuous and abusive relationship. I find this rather odd since Dunn seems very willing to lay blame on their mother for being somewhat absent and to apply Jungian and Freudian theories to their relationship to each other. One of the aspects of their relationship that I found most odd, the bizarre "baby talk", is largely ignored by Dunn. Does no one else find their letters slightly disturbing?
Overall this was an okay book, but as it focuses on the relationship between the sisters, at the expense of other aspects of their lives that a reader might find interesting, I would not recommend it as a general biography of either Vanessa Bell or Virginia Woolf.
June 19, 2009
I read this years ago and decided to reread it after reading Sellers' Vanessa and Virginia, which clearly relies heavily on it (as Sellers says in her acknowledgements). Dunn doesn't take a straight chronological approach; she examines the sisters' lives and relationship thematically, showing how they were both rivals and conspirators and how their lives revolved around each other's in so many ways. It's an excellent book, and I think I got even more out of it this time after having read more about Woolf (and now I long to read Frances Spalding's biography of Bell) to give me more background.
May 10, 2023
As the title implies, this is not so much a biography, as a book looking at the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. The author examines the girls childhood, where they were given a rudimentary education and were expected to become practised in the "feminine accomplishments of music, dancing and presiding over the tea table." In fact, all that was necessary for the "great adventure of marriage and motherhood". Their mother certainly idolised her sons and saw men as more important, to be deferred to and valued above women. She also had a caustic and difficult side, which both girls seem to have overlooked in their desperation for her attention and Virginia was shocked in later years when a friend criticised a photograph of her mother. On the death of their mother and their half sister Stella, Vanessa was the eldest female in the family and responsible for the household, a role she seems to have clung to, however unwillingly, throughout her life.
Perhaps the role as mother figure helped Vanessa in a household which disregarded her interest and talent in art. Both Virginia and Vanessa resented their lack of education, but Virginia's early interest in writing was more acceptable in a family of writers, whereas art was less valued. Vanessa found herself compared unfavourably to Virginia, while her art was neither cherished or valued, but seen as a feminine 'hobby'. However, it was Virginia who wrote to her sister, "I can never believe that you approve of me in any way, strange as it may seem" and Virginia who craved her sisters love and approval throughout her life.
On the death of their father, the girls set up home elsewhere, with their brothers Thoby and Adrian. Vanessa was certainly in her element here - discarding Victorian drabness and clutter for the light, airy rooms she craved. Throughout her life, she would be known for creating beautiful homes. When Thoby died, and Vanessa married quickly afterwards, Virginia was left feeling bereft and motherhood seemed to take Vanessa even further away from her.
The book does examine the relationship between the women and their husbands and between Vanessa and Roger Fry and Duncan Grant, also with her children; but mostly the central relationship remains between Virginia and Vanessa. They seem to have had a warm, close, loving relationship, but always with a hint of envy and competition. Virginia, like the rest of her family, was slighting of Vanessa's art over literature; "Mrs Bell says nothing. Mrs Bell is silent as the grave. Her pictures do not betray her." Yet, also writing in response to Vanessa's work, "Thank God, I say, that she doesn't write." She wanted her sister to be successful, just not as successful as her. Especially as Vanessa became a mother and supported Leonard and the doctors in their disapproval of Virginia having children, a decision she regretted. Vanessa, like her mother, valued men more and was suspicious of any women attempting to join the Bloomsbury set she presided over, while Virginia delighted in women's company as much as men and was involved in feminism; although she preferred her writing to speak for her, rather than being an activist.
Despite their natural competitive nature, both women were always supportive of the other. Vanessa bolstered Virginia's confidence, nursed her when she was suffering her depressions and every Virginia Woolf book was published "encased in the distinctive signature of a Vanessa Bell dust jacket". Throughout their lives, Virginia accused Vanessa of always giving and being unable to take, but when the desperation of her love for Duncan Grant became too much, Virginia did witness her distress. She supported Vanessa's unconventional lifestyle to relatives and she was there when Vanessa's eldest son, Julian, was killed in the Spanish Civil War. Whenever disaster struck, they each knew they could rely completely on the other. This is a very moving book, well written and highly recommended.
Perhaps the role as mother figure helped Vanessa in a household which disregarded her interest and talent in art. Both Virginia and Vanessa resented their lack of education, but Virginia's early interest in writing was more acceptable in a family of writers, whereas art was less valued. Vanessa found herself compared unfavourably to Virginia, while her art was neither cherished or valued, but seen as a feminine 'hobby'. However, it was Virginia who wrote to her sister, "I can never believe that you approve of me in any way, strange as it may seem" and Virginia who craved her sisters love and approval throughout her life.
On the death of their father, the girls set up home elsewhere, with their brothers Thoby and Adrian. Vanessa was certainly in her element here - discarding Victorian drabness and clutter for the light, airy rooms she craved. Throughout her life, she would be known for creating beautiful homes. When Thoby died, and Vanessa married quickly afterwards, Virginia was left feeling bereft and motherhood seemed to take Vanessa even further away from her.
The book does examine the relationship between the women and their husbands and between Vanessa and Roger Fry and Duncan Grant, also with her children; but mostly the central relationship remains between Virginia and Vanessa. They seem to have had a warm, close, loving relationship, but always with a hint of envy and competition. Virginia, like the rest of her family, was slighting of Vanessa's art over literature; "Mrs Bell says nothing. Mrs Bell is silent as the grave. Her pictures do not betray her." Yet, also writing in response to Vanessa's work, "Thank God, I say, that she doesn't write." She wanted her sister to be successful, just not as successful as her. Especially as Vanessa became a mother and supported Leonard and the doctors in their disapproval of Virginia having children, a decision she regretted. Vanessa, like her mother, valued men more and was suspicious of any women attempting to join the Bloomsbury set she presided over, while Virginia delighted in women's company as much as men and was involved in feminism; although she preferred her writing to speak for her, rather than being an activist.
Despite their natural competitive nature, both women were always supportive of the other. Vanessa bolstered Virginia's confidence, nursed her when she was suffering her depressions and every Virginia Woolf book was published "encased in the distinctive signature of a Vanessa Bell dust jacket". Throughout their lives, Virginia accused Vanessa of always giving and being unable to take, but when the desperation of her love for Duncan Grant became too much, Virginia did witness her distress. She supported Vanessa's unconventional lifestyle to relatives and she was there when Vanessa's eldest son, Julian, was killed in the Spanish Civil War. Whenever disaster struck, they each knew they could rely completely on the other. This is a very moving book, well written and highly recommended.
December 21, 2023
An extremely dense book, still fluid, built so systematically that you are never lost, confused or bored. What a fantastic documentation effort! What finesse in the interpretations of the fragments of documents identified as relevant! The leading thread is the bonds created and developed between the Stephen sisters after the death of their mother (and soon after that of their older half-sister, Stella). At 18 and 15, respectively, they find themselves forced to face a reconstituted family consisting with 5 men - 2 older, abusive half-brothers, 2 younger brothers and the father inconsolable for the loss of his wife. The author has a special sensitivity in detecting and, why not, imagining what is happening in the soul of the two women in childhood-adolescence-maturity, through what is left written by themselves in diaries, memoirs, etc. or by others, from the entourage or from the era, in the context of Edwardian society. Another source of information or confirmation of some intuitions are the novels of Virginia Woolf (especially "To the Lighthouse", "A Room of One's Own") which become almost autobiographical. In fact, Vanessa read the novels before they were published and commented admiringly on how well the features of family members and friends were captured, the atmosphere in the house...
”Her intelligence, sensitivity and imaginative virtuosity made Virginia Stephen uniquely fascinating but, in those early days, difficult company. Everything about her was concentrated and intense: her feelings for her family, her possessiveness of Vanessa, her suspicion and envy of what Cambridge had given her brothers and male contemporaries her curiosity about other people’s lives…”
”… Vanessa, choosing to shoulder this demanding and powerful role for all the people whom she loved, had no one to restore her equilibrium. She used her painting, increasingly, to protect and secure her peace of mind rather than to risk…”
”Once again the closeness of their relationship, the competitiveness within it, were such that in order to maintain their solidarity each sister had to be confined to her own specific territory, marked out by them as children; art versus literature, common sense versus sensiblity, instinct versus intellectuality.”/
O carte extrem de densă, totuși fluidă, construită atît de sistematic încît nici un moment nu ești pierdut, confuz sau plictisit. Ce efort de documentare fantastic! Ce finețe a interpretărilor fragmentelor de documente identificate ca relevante! Firul conducător îl constituie legăturile create și dezvoltate între surorile Stephen după moartea mamei (și curînd după aceea a surorii lor vitrege, și mai mari, Stella). La 18 și respectiv 15 ani se văd nevoite să facă față unei familii recompuse alcătuite din ele două și 5 bărbați - 2 frați vitregi mai mari, abuzatori, 2 frați mai mici și tatăl neconsolat de pierderea soției. Autoarea are o sensibilitate aparte în a decela și, de ce nu, a imagina ce se petrece în sufletul celor doua femei în copilărie-adolescență-maturitate, prin cele rămase scrise, de ele însele în jurnale, memorii etc. sau de alții, din anturaj sau din epocă, în contextul societății edwardiene. O alta sursă de informații sau de confirmare a unor intuiții sînt chiar romanele Virginiei Woolf (în special „Spre far”, „O cameră separată”) care devin aproape autobiografice. De altfel, Vanessa îi citea romanele înainte de a fi publicate și comenta admirativ cît de bine erau prinse trăsăturile membrilor familiei și prietenilor, atmosfera din casă…
”Her intelligence, sensitivity and imaginative virtuosity made Virginia Stephen uniquely fascinating but, in those early days, difficult company. Everything about her was concentrated and intense: her feelings for her family, her possessiveness of Vanessa, her suspicion and envy of what Cambridge had given her brothers and male contemporaries her curiosity about other people’s lives…”
”… Vanessa, choosing to shoulder this demanding and powerful role for all the people whom she loved, had no one to restore her equilibrium. She used her painting, increasingly, to protect and secure her peace of mind rather than to risk…”
”Once again the closeness of their relationship, the competitiveness within it, were such that in order to maintain their solidarity each sister had to be confined to her own specific territory, marked out by them as children; art versus literature, common sense versus sensiblity, instinct versus intellectuality.”/
O carte extrem de densă, totuși fluidă, construită atît de sistematic încît nici un moment nu ești pierdut, confuz sau plictisit. Ce efort de documentare fantastic! Ce finețe a interpretărilor fragmentelor de documente identificate ca relevante! Firul conducător îl constituie legăturile create și dezvoltate între surorile Stephen după moartea mamei (și curînd după aceea a surorii lor vitrege, și mai mari, Stella). La 18 și respectiv 15 ani se văd nevoite să facă față unei familii recompuse alcătuite din ele două și 5 bărbați - 2 frați vitregi mai mari, abuzatori, 2 frați mai mici și tatăl neconsolat de pierderea soției. Autoarea are o sensibilitate aparte în a decela și, de ce nu, a imagina ce se petrece în sufletul celor doua femei în copilărie-adolescență-maturitate, prin cele rămase scrise, de ele însele în jurnale, memorii etc. sau de alții, din anturaj sau din epocă, în contextul societății edwardiene. O alta sursă de informații sau de confirmare a unor intuiții sînt chiar romanele Virginiei Woolf (în special „Spre far”, „O cameră separată”) care devin aproape autobiografice. De altfel, Vanessa îi citea romanele înainte de a fi publicate și comenta admirativ cît de bine erau prinse trăsăturile membrilor familiei și prietenilor, atmosfera din casă…
February 17, 2025
hace un tiempo, una profesora de literatura que admiro mucho me dijo que para leer a Virginia de una manera contextualizada y dándole sentido a sus obras leyera este libro.
tardé bastante en conseguirlo y hoy, después de haberlo terminado solo pienso: qué buen consejo.
Es un libro hermoso en el que explica absolutamente todo sobre la vida de las hermanas. profundiza en los sentimientos, amistades y amores de cada una con sus respectivas epistolas.
y en cuánto a Virginia, te adentra sobre lo que pasaba por su vida y por su mente en los momentos en los que escribía cada novela, explica qué personajes eligió para Virginia para rememorar a cada persona de su vida. lo que hace que si empezas a leerla de 0 puedas hacerlo con un significado personal y que puedas contextualizar todo desde otro lado. Desde el de su mente.
tardé bastante en conseguirlo y hoy, después de haberlo terminado solo pienso: qué buen consejo.
Es un libro hermoso en el que explica absolutamente todo sobre la vida de las hermanas. profundiza en los sentimientos, amistades y amores de cada una con sus respectivas epistolas.
y en cuánto a Virginia, te adentra sobre lo que pasaba por su vida y por su mente en los momentos en los que escribía cada novela, explica qué personajes eligió para Virginia para rememorar a cada persona de su vida. lo que hace que si empezas a leerla de 0 puedas hacerlo con un significado personal y que puedas contextualizar todo desde otro lado. Desde el de su mente.
September 9, 2017
I have given up with this. I'm not sure whether it was the cursory treatment of child sexual abuse, or the often ridiculous pop psychology applied to the sisters, or the way the author referred to Indian citizens as 'savages' (I understand they are emulating the Victorian spirit, but there are better ways to write). Actually, the thing that killed it, as others have noted, was the beyond tedious repetition. This book could have been half the size. I read about the gloominess of Hyde Park Gate at least 4 times in the first 3 chapters. Such a shame. I don't know what Virago were thinking of, this book cries out for an editor.
July 20, 2025
Incredibly well researched, this is a thorough exploration of the facts of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell's upbringing and life. At times the writer makes interesting connections as biographers need to do, at other those connections are naive or inexplicably missing, as such the book comes off as rather old fashioned. Especially, as others have said around the sexual abuse that Virginia experienced, there is such a missed opportunity here, to really consider the impact on Virginia's life and her mental health, rather than the rather weak and dismissive inclusion.
October 23, 2023
Es una historia biográfica de las hermanas Stephen (Virginia y Vanessa), es interesante y lleno de esperanza leer como 2 mujeres luchan por vivir de y por su arte a principios de los 1900, pude conocer la relación tan estrecha entre ellas a pesar de tener 2 tipos de carácter totalmente distintos.
Me gustó el libro, aunque unos capítulos más que otros, había momentos en que se repetía mucho la información.
Me gustó el libro, aunque unos capítulos más que otros, había momentos en que se repetía mucho la información.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2024
Finally finished, it was interesting but became kind of repetitive and I found the sexualisation of the sisters relationship odd. It’s also not written in a way that makes the passage of time easy to follow, there’s too much jumping around and people seem to be introduced out of sequence. I would have liked more Bloomsbury to see more of the sisters in a wider society and less of their closed off relationship, the approach taken by the author just didn’t work for me.
March 3, 2025
Such a sensitive, beautifully written account of two amazing women and their turbulent lives. The ending was so sad it made me almost cry, and even more so to know that it was real. I am stunned at the amount of sadness they carried and still the amount of love. I am blessed to have read this and will continue reading Virginia Woolf with much more understanding.
October 7, 2018
A very moving biography on the sisters, the way their lives were so incredibly entwined despite all that happens.
October 30, 2018
Fascinating.
February 4, 2021
This biography of a relationship weaves a very interesting story about creativity, women and issues around marriage, and the complexities of sibling relationships.
August 31, 2022
Really slow going and repetitive at times but otherwise a really comprehensive biography of their relationship as sisters with themes of childhood, loss, art, marriage, the mother etc
December 4, 2022
Por que nadie me avisó de que era un muermo de bibliografía cuando son dos tías super interessntes? Pregunto
June 2, 2025
Super book, well researched and beautifully put together, still in my collection after some time. Nothing has eclipsed this biography since. Still in print.
September 30, 2025
I thought this a very good and insightful book although virginia does come across as really quite irritating to vanessa
July 28, 2015
Excellent!
Will greatly enhance any future readings of Virginia Woolf's work. Exposed me to the paintings and artistic talent of Vanessa. But most of all, provided insight into the closely entwined lives and loves of these two women and into the milieu of houses, men, relatives, work, lifestyles they inhabited.
Read it because I was wary of the recently released novel Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar. The latter is an enjoyable fictionalization of the relationship between these two talented women. Written as a collection of letters and diary entries, it can be read quickly, whereas I have found A Very Close Conspiracy to be a much slower slog -- but still a very satisfying trudge. Dunn provides a longer (time period) view of these siblings and presents material that suggests different judgments than Parmar. If anyone is going to read the newer book, I strongly suggest reading this one as well. Since written in 1990, you may need to scrounge your library system a bit. (In the question and answer section here on Goodreads, Parmar has said both of them were drawing from the same source material.)
Not directly about this book, but a new show about the Bloomsbury Group from BBC (7/27/15):
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-0...
Will greatly enhance any future readings of Virginia Woolf's work. Exposed me to the paintings and artistic talent of Vanessa. But most of all, provided insight into the closely entwined lives and loves of these two women and into the milieu of houses, men, relatives, work, lifestyles they inhabited.
Read it because I was wary of the recently released novel Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar. The latter is an enjoyable fictionalization of the relationship between these two talented women. Written as a collection of letters and diary entries, it can be read quickly, whereas I have found A Very Close Conspiracy to be a much slower slog -- but still a very satisfying trudge. Dunn provides a longer (time period) view of these siblings and presents material that suggests different judgments than Parmar. If anyone is going to read the newer book, I strongly suggest reading this one as well. Since written in 1990, you may need to scrounge your library system a bit. (In the question and answer section here on Goodreads, Parmar has said both of them were drawing from the same source material.)
Not directly about this book, but a new show about the Bloomsbury Group from BBC (7/27/15):
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-0...
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