Book description
An invaluable guide to the art and mind of Virginia Woolf, drawn from the personal record she kept over a period of twenty-seven years.
Included are entries that refer to her own writing, and those that are relevant to the raw material of her work, and, finally, comments on the…
Why read it?
2 authors picked A Writer's Diary as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I dip into my well-thumbed edition of this inspiring book every so often, but in 2003, I was reading from it daily as it led me by the hand through the ups and downs of my own creations as I tackled a new novel.
I matched the months and seasons in which I was writing with hers and found it exhilarating to discover what she was thinking on the same day as me, even if removed by years. Virginia is like a wise aunt who has seen it all and knows it all and imparts honest and perceptive insights into…
This book became a kind of hymnal for me during the writing of Love and Fury. It was Virginia Woolf who in 1929 resurrected Mary Wollstonecraft’s reputation and legacy, buried for a century because a tell-all memoir written by her widower, William Godwin, scandalized the world. It seemed natural to turn to Woolf, who found inspiration in Wollstonecraft’s “experiments in living”. I read a section of the diary every day before I started to write. Woolf’s profound creative visions, her anguish, and passions, her voice, helped me locate Wollstonecraft and my own voice in hers.
From Samantha's list on The best books if you’re writing a novel of Wollstonecraft’s life.
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