Vanessa And Her Sister by Priya Parmar– 368 pages
Book Blurb:
London, 1905: The city is alight with change, and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby, and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury. There they bring together a glittering circle of bright, outrageous artistic friends who will grow into legend and come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group. And at the center of this charmed circle are the devoted, gifted sisters: Vanessa, the painter, and Virginia, the writer. But the landscape shifts when Vanessa unexpectedly falls in love and her sister feels dangerously abandoned. Eerily possessive, charismatic, manipulative, and brilliant, Virginia has always lived in the shelter of Vanessa’s constant attention and encouragement. Without it, she careens toward self-destruction and madness. As tragedy and betrayal threaten to destroy the family, Vanessa must decide if it is finally time to protect her own happiness above all else.
My Review: 3.5 stars
Glad to read a book in which I learned so much about the Bloomsbury group, Vanessa Stephen Bell and her sister Virginia Stephen Woolf. The beginning of this book took me by surprise, as I was completely ignorant as to the Bloomsbury group. After a quick Google search, the characters became much more interesting to me. I had never read a book in which the diary entries included complete conversations. That took some getting used to, as did the immense amount of characters. The two reasons I was drawn into this book was first due to the writing. Parmar has a golden hand and puts words perfectly on the pages. She captured the essence of the setting and time period remarkably well. Second, I was absolutely fascinated with these talented sisters and wanted to know more about them. I had never heard of Vanessa Bell the artist and was captivated by their loving, odd, spiteful, obsessive and nurturing relationship as sisters. As a reader, I’m well acquainted with Virginia Woolf and after reading about her brand of crazy, I’m certain I’ll reread some of her work.
Learning something new is one of my favorite things about reading and this book really enlightened me on a variety of things. I was shell-shocked by the open and plentiful amount of homosexual relationships that occurred during the early 1900s. Who knew?
Overall, a good literary read about a fascinating time and the talented artists and authors.
Quotes I liked:
– “Why must a novel begin at the beginning? Who declares such a rule? Who defends it?”
-“Affection is so much easier to give when it is not owed.”
-“If there is courage there must be risk. If there is risk, there must be doubt. If there is doubt, it is better to wait. But to wait at this age requires courage.”
-“I have never known such utter safety. I feel rooted in another, all my selves and secrets held in trust. I had not realized until now that I have been lonely all by life.”
-“I feel once one is married with a baby, the jig is up, and we are allowed to speak frankly about sex with anyone.
-“I do believe truth heals, but sometimes only after it desperately wounds.”
– “Marriage is a binding, blending thing that runs on a low burning fuel of habit and faith. Love, on the other hand, is unanchored and lissome in its fragility.”
-“His friendship, his respect, his opinion, his affection have become essential to me. They nurture the seeds that grow the plant.”
-“I am not waiting. I am not waiting for anyone anymore. It was me I was waiting for.”
-“Rightness can be a transitive thing.”
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