ISBN 978 0 7206 1222 6
Biography/Lit history
320pp
Cased

Illustrated
£22.50
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Before Leonard

The Early Suitors of Virginia Woolf

Sarah M. Hall

Virginia Woolf’s life and work continue to fascinate. Following on the heels of the discovery of new unpublished material by Woolf, as well as Stephen Daldry’s acclaimed film The Hours, this major new book takes an illuminating look at a previously unexplored dimension of her life.

From the controversial biographer Lytton Strachey (who made and then quickly retracted his proposal of marriage) to the war poet and neo-pagan Rupert Brooke (who held skinny-dipping parties in the river at Grantchester), Sarah M. Hall looks at Virginia Woolf's ‘unsuitable’ early suitors.

Woolf's work has frequently been seen against the backdrop of the Bloomsbury Group or her relationship with Vita Sackville-West. But the men considered in this book had an important impact on Woolf's life and work, too-veiled portraits of most of them appear in her novels.

Before Leonard brings brand new material and a brand-new perspective to the fertile ground of Woolf studies.

'A fascinating read for all Virginia Woolf fans: the story of her romantic life before her marriage, with full before-and-after accounts of eight admirers, some of whose names and careers have until now been consigned to footnotes in the annals of Bloomsbury.' - Victoria Glendinning

'Sarah Hall's new book is such a revelation that we may wonder why we have not already heard about the early romantic relationships of a woman whose sexuality has been a point of intrigue . . . Hall's prose is charming . . . she has researched much new information and this is an enjoyable, unusual read.' - Scotland on Sunday

'This is a fascinating look at the private correspondance, diaries, memoirs and novels of a great writer and at some of the many admirers who had an important impact on her life.' - The Lady

SARAH M. HALL is a writer and editor. She is on the Executive Council and the Editorial Committee of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain and is a regular contributor to the Virginia Woolf Bulletin. Her second book, on Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury, is in preparation.