Leonard Woolf

A new edition of Leonard Woolf's satirical second novel, which offers an intriguing group portrait of Leonard and Virginia Woolf and other members of the Bloomsbury Group​ The Wise Virgins (1914), Leonard Woolf's second novel, was published two years after the author's marriage to Virginia Stephen--and begun during their honeymoon. The autobiographical elements of the book are well documented. Its publication caused acute distress to Woolf's family. Leonard's sister, Bella, urged him to bury the novel, while his mother was shocked and mortified by unflattering portraits of herself and her neighbors. Two weeks after reading the novel, Virginia Woolf suffered the worst of her many breakdowns.As aroman clef the novel holds considerable interest for its picture of Leonard and Virginia's courtship, as well as its sketches of Vanessa Stephen and Clive Bell. (Virginia would later retell the story, from a much different perspective, in Night and Day.) But the novel offers the contemporary reader other rewards. It remains a witty, engaging satire about English society just before World War I and its conventions and prejudices. In Harry Davis, Woolf created a memorable Jewish antihero who rails against society's conventions but tragically finds himself unable to escape them. Award-winning biographer Victoria Glendinning contributes a foreword to this new paperback edition.

This classic novel of colonial Ceylon (Sri Lanka), was first published in 1913 and is written by a prominent member of the Bloomsbury group, husband of Virginia Woolf. It reads as if Thomas Hardy had been born among the heat, scent, sensuality and pungent mystery of the tropics. Translated into both Tamil and Sinhalese, it is one of the best-loved and best-known stories in Sri Lanka. It includes a new biographical afterword by Sir Christopher Ondaatje, author of "Woolf in Ceylon", and a short story, "Pearls before Swine", which vividly draws on Woolf's experience as a young District Commissioner. This book reeks of first-hand knowledge of the colonial experience, and of its profound, malign disregard for the psychology and culture of its subject peoples.

Harry faces the dilemna of whether should go into the family business and marry the suitable but dull girl next door or move in artistic circles and marry one of the entrancing 'Lawrence' girls.

The author's account of the events of World War I and also a description of the origin of the Bloomsbury Group, the founding of the Hogarth Press, and the author's marriage to Virginia Stephen. "To write this masterly account is a severe test of courage and honesty...it raises the book to greatness" (The Nation). Index; photographs.

The author's childhood in Victorian London and his youth at Cambridge, when he met his future wife, Virginia, and others who were to become members of the Bloomsbury Group. "Just what an autobiography should be" (New Yorker). Index; photographs.

The author's account of World War II, his wife's death, and his political and literary activities. "A splendid ending to one of the most remarkable literary achievements of our time" (New York Times Book Review). Index; photographs.

The English writer and publisher records his experiences in the Civil Service in Ceylon and describes that country's culture and people