Vita Sackville-West was a prolific British author, poet, and memoirist of the early 20th century, known for both her writing and her unconventional private life. She navigated open marriages and explored themes of identity and freedom through her work. Her aristocratic life, marked by privilege and a forward-thinking spirit, saw her embrace varied experiences and challenge societal norms. Beyond her literary endeavors, Sackville-West possessed a deep passion for gardening, meticulously crafting some of England's most renowned gardens, which also informed her writing.
Eavesdrop on the affair that inspired Virginia to write her most fantastical novel, Orlando, and discover a relationship that - even a hundred years later - feels radical and relatable. WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION FROM ALISON BECHDEL, AUTHOR OF FUN HOME AND CREATOR OF THE BECHDEL TEST.
Evelyn, aged thirty-nine, is an attractive widow living an irreproachable life. Evelyn, deeply jealous and conventional is shocked at her lover's casual ways and his insistence on working all day. Miles's love for Evelyn is real but he cannot devote himself wholly to her whims.
In 1926 Vita Sackville-West wrote and published this travelogue after traveling to Iran to visit her husband, Harold Nicolson, who was serving as a diplomat in Teheran. Her route was deliberately slow-paced - she stopped in Egypt, where she sailed up the Nile to Luxor; and India, where she visited New Delhi and Agra before sailing across the Persian Gulf to Iraq and on through bandit-infested mountains to Teheran. She returned to England in an equally circuitous manner and despite travelling under dangerous circumstances, through communist Russia and Poland in the midst of revolution, her humour and sense of adventure never failed. Passenger to Teheran is a classic work, revealing the lesser-known side of one of the twentieth century's most luminous authors.
From 1946, the poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West wrote a gardening column in the Observer. The columns were later collected into a set of books published between 1951 and 1958. Vita's extensive gardening knowledge, her intense passion for her subject and her lively literary flair make these classics of garden writing essential for any serious gardener's bookshelf. Volume 1 in a series of four anthologies reproducing the lively gardening columns by Vita Sackville-West. This volume covers 1946–1950.
In Some Flowers, originally published in 1937, Vita Sackville-West took the novel step of choosing 25 of her favourite flowers and describing their appearance, origins and characteristics – and the best ways to grow them – in a series of brilliantly expressive pen portraits which retain their vitality over 70 years later. In this fresh edition of the book the exquisite watercolours of Graham Rust provide a perfect marriage of words and images, clearly demonstrating at last the accuracy and ingenuity of Vita Sackville-West's descriptions. This glorious second flowering of her personal, erudite and poetical book will not only delight her many admirers but also guarantee her reputation with a new generation of gardening enthusiasts.
Seducers in Ecuador is the story of Arthur Lomax, every bit the English gentleman in his white ducks and solar topee, enjoying the pleasures of an Egyptian cruise. Under the spell of house and garden, Peregrine's life - and heart - are transformed.
The marriage of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson.
A lavish hardback celebrating one of Britain's best-loved gardens.
Vita Sackville-West is known as much for her creation of the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle as for her numerous novels, poems and gardening articles. Written in 1926, The Land is a nostalgic celebration of the Kentish countryside through the seasons. It won the Hawthornden Prize and sold over 100,000 copies.
