Virginia Woolf: Interviews and Recollections

These 41 short pieces, written by friends, relatives and colleagues of Woolf (1882-1941), present her in a kinder light than previous studies. Stape, professor of English at Japan Women's University in Tokyo, has carefully chosen a wide selection of illuminating personal observations of Woolf. Excerpts from the diary of friend and lover Vita Sackville-West during a trip the two took to France reveal women who knew how to enjoy themselves. Other accounts by Bloomsbury regular Clive Bell (Virginia's brother-in-law) and writer Gerald Brenan describe a friendly conversationalist who enjoyed people. Husband Leonard testifies to his wife's genius and her conscientious work habits. Other accounts note Woolf's feminist sympathies and praise her physical beauty, wit and devotion to friends. Although Woolf drowned herself, writer Rose Macaulay remembers her as possessing a remarkable ``zest for life.'' (Feb.)