Virginia Woolf'S London (English, Dorothy Brewster)

First published in 1959, Virginia Woolf’s London takes the reader on a tour of London with Mrs. Woolf. However, this book is much more than a literary sightseeing tour, enjoyable though that is. As scholar and critic, Dr. Brewster shows how Mrs. Woolf has used London as atmosphere, theme, and even motivating force throughout her writing. In some ways, the late novel The Years was a climax in a long succession of ‘experiments in using London impressions in interrogating the inner and outer aspects of experience.’ This book begins and ends an era in the history of the great city which many will appreciate, from the beginning of the 20th century, when a 23-year-old Virginia published an article on ‘London Street Music,’ to the blitz of 1940 and 1941, when, as some poignant passages in her Diary reveal, the mature novelist saw her city being battered and burned. A book for all those who love both London and literature.