Add BookmarkVanessa and Virginia
"You see, even after all these years, I wonder if you really loved me."
Vanessa and Virginia are sisters, best friends, bitter rivals, and artistic collaborators. As children, they fight for attention from their overextended mother, their brilliant but difficult father, and their adored brother, Thoby. As young women, they support each other through a series of devastating deaths, then emerge in bohemian Bloomsbury, bent on creating new lives and groundbreaking works of art. Through ... (show more)
"You see, even after all these years, I wonder if you really loved me."
Vanessa and Virginia are sisters, best friends, bitter rivals, and artistic collaborators. As children, they fight for attention from their overextended mother, their brilliant but difficult father, and their adored brother, Thoby. As young women, they support each other through a series of devastating deaths, then emerge in bohemian Bloomsbury, bent on creating new lives and groundbreaking works of art. Through everything—marriage, lovers, loss, madness, children, success and failure—the sisters remain the closest of co-conspirators. But they also betray each other.
In this lyrical, impressionistic account, written as a love letter and elegy from Vanessa to Virginia, Sellers imagines her way into the heart of the lifelong relationship between writer Virginia Woolf and painter Vanessa Bell. With sensitivity, imagination, and fidelity to what it known of both lives, Sellers has created a powerful portrait of sibling rivalry.
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Reviews (See all 4) Write a reviewfor this
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Susan Sellers imagines the life of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. Like Susan Vreeland, she enters the art world with assurance, bringing forth the ideas behind paintings down to the colors and the curves. Vanessa Bell, the painter, emerges clearly since the story is told in her voice.
Virginia is the competitor for Vanessa's affections, the measure of Vanessa's talents (though Virginia writes and Vanessa paints). They are sisters, they are lovers, they are friends, they are enemies.
... (show more)
Susan Sellers imagines the life of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. Like Susan Vreeland, she enters the art world with assurance, bringing forth the ideas behind paintings down to the colors and the curves. Vanessa Bell, the painter, emerges clearly since the story is told in her voice.
Virginia is the competitor for Vanessa's affections, the measure of Vanessa's talents (though Virginia writes and Vanessa paints). They are sisters, they are lovers, they are friends, they are enemies.
Just as reading a novel by Woolf takes the reader into numerous meandering directions, Sellers mimics the style by offering little straight narrative plot. She does capture the sensuality and oddness of two famous, very independent lives.
Nevertheless, I was glad the book was short because had it been longer, I would not have finished it. I like a story with dialog and conflict. This book wanders through the years and the scenes and is filtered entirely through Vanessa's thoughts. (show less)
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This is a compelling read. It tells the story of two sisters, author Virginia Woolf and artist Vanessa Bell, from Vanessa's point of view. Once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. Although a few allusions to Woolf's writing that the author included in the story seemed forced or jarring, overall this was a VERY good read. Susan Sellers does a brilliant job of showing a different side of Virginia than I am used to viewing and of bringing Vanessa clearly to life. I highly recommend thi... (show more)
This is a compelling read. It tells the story of two sisters, author Virginia Woolf and artist Vanessa Bell, from Vanessa's point of view. Once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. Although a few allusions to Woolf's writing that the author included in the story seemed forced or jarring, overall this was a VERY good read. Susan Sellers does a brilliant job of showing a different side of Virginia than I am used to viewing and of bringing Vanessa clearly to life. I highly recommend this novel. If you are a fan of Virginia Woolf -- or any other members of the Bloomsbury group -- you will enjoy it. Bravo, Susan! (show less)
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