This first volume of Virginia Woolf's collected letters covers the formative period from childhood until her marriage at the age of 30, recounting her family life, the development of her style, her intimate experiences and her early, devastating mental breakdowns.
The Letters of Virginia Woolf Series
This collection offers an intimate journey into the mind and life of a seminal modernist writer. It charts the evolution of her thought, her creative process, and the personal struggles that shaped her unique voice. Readers will discover a comprehensive portrait of a woman who not only wrote but deeply lived her literary ideals.






Recommended Reading Order
- 1
- 2
The Letters of Virginia Woolf: 1912-1922
- 664 pages
- 24 hours of reading
First published under title: The question of things happening : the letters of Virginia Woolf, vol. II: 1912-1922.
- 3
A Change of Perspective
The Letters of Virginia Woolf 1923-1928
These years were dominated by one woman and one book. The woman was Ethel Smyth; the book was The Waves.
- 4
The Letters of Virginia Woolf: 1929-1931
- 476 pages
- 17 hours of reading
These years were dominated by one woman and one book. The woman was Ethel Smyth; the book was The Waves. This volume's "unerringly human and confessional tone makes Woolf, at last, a real person" (San Francisco Chronicle). Edited by Nigel Nicolson and Joanne Trautmann; Introduction by Nigel Nicolson; Index; photographs.
- 5
The Sickle Side of the Moon
The Letters of Virginia Woolf, 1932-1935
The penultimate volume of Woolf's letters, when the author was between the ages of 50 and 53, covers the composition of the Years and the death of Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry. Introduction by Nigel Nicolson; Index.
- 6
The last volume of Virginia Woolf's "Collected Letters" runs from 1936, when she was finishing "The Waves", to 1941, when she drowned herself. But there is little or no shadow of impending tragedy over her sparkling correspondence with Vanessa, Vita, Ethel Smyth and her many other friends.