Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000) was an exceptional English writer who would never have claimed such accolades for herself. Her novels, characterized by their brevity and subtlety, earned her the Booker Prize for Offshore in 1979, while her final work, The Blue Flower, was hailed as genius. Her early novels drew from personal experiences, including life on a Thames boat in the 1960s, the BBC during wartime, a struggling bookshop in Suffolk, and an eccentric stage school. In contrast, her later works explored historical settings, such as pre-Revolution Russia, post-war Italy, and Romantic-era Germany, showcasing her remarkable ability to inhabit these worlds. Fitzgerald's life mirrored the complexity of her fiction, spanning much of the twentieth century and encompassing a range of experiences—from living in a Bishop's Palace to enduring poverty on a sinking barge. She transitioned from teaching to literary acclaim, first being published at sixty and gaining fame at eighty. Her story is one of perseverance and quiet heroism. Despite her popularity and recognition as a leading novelist, she remained enigmatic, often presenting herself as an absent-minded old lady while possessing a keen intellect and expansive imagination. This insightful biography, penned by a writer Fitzgerald admired, delves into her life, work, and hidden depths with compelling fascination.
Hermione Lee Reihenfolge der Bücher (Chronologisch)
Hermione Lee ist eine herausragende Literaturhistorikerin und Biografin. Ihre Arbeit konzentriert sich auf tiefgehende Erkundungen der Leben und Schriften bedeutender britischer Autoren, wobei sie deren literarische Beiträge und persönlichen Motivationen in den Mittelpunkt stellt. Lees Texte zeichnen sich durch akribische Recherche und aufschlussreiche Analysen aus, die die Komplexität des kreativen Prozesses und dessen historischen Kontext aufdecken. Ihr Ansatz bereichert das Verständnis der Leser für das literarische Erbe.






Penguin Classics: To the Lighthouse
- 320 Seiten
- 12 Lesestunden
'To the Lighthouse' is Virginia Woolf's fifth novel, and was the first book to win her a large public. The story of an English middle class family in the years leading up to the First World War, it has remained the most popular of all her works.
Biography : A Very Short Introduction
- 170 Seiten
- 6 Lesestunden
Hermione Lee is one of the leading literary biographers in the English-speaking world, the author of widely acclaimed lives of Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf. Now, in this Very Short Introduction, Lee provides a magnificent look at the genre in which she is an undisputed master--the art of biography. Here Lee considers the cultural and historical background of different types of biographies, looks at the factors that affect biographers, and asks whether there are different strategies, ethics, and principles required for writing about one person compared to another. She also discusses contemporary biographical publications and considers what kind of "lives" are the most popular and in demand. And along the way, she answers such questions as why do certain people and historical events arouse so much interest? How can biographies be compared with history and works of fiction? Does a biography need to be true? Is it acceptable to omit or conceal things? Does the biographer need topersonally know the subject? Must a biographer be subjective?About the Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
Edith Wharton
- 864 Seiten
- 31 Lesestunden
The name 'Edith Wharton' conjures up 'Gilded Age' New York, in all its snobbery and ruthlessness - the world of The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth. She created fabulous homes in New England and in France, and her life was filled with remarkable friends, including Henry James, Bernard Berenson, Aldous Huxley and Kenneth Clark.
As children, Virginia Woolf, elder sister Vanessa Bell, and brother Thoby Stephen collaborated on their very own family newspaper. Published here, Hyde Park Gate News includes the original drawings as well as previously unpublished photographs from the family albums. Ingeniously mimicking the style of the leading newspapers of their day, the Stephen children present a charming and candid portrayal of the day-to-day events at their family home in London and at their holiday home in St Ives. Gossipy, playful, and at times irreverent, they record the comings and goings of a host of figures, George Meredith and Henry James among them, while also proffering their own fictional, poetic, and artistic creations. Acclaimed for her innovative style, Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) is one of the most important figures of the Modernist movement; her sister Vanessa Bell (1879–1961) was a painter and a central figure of the Bloomsbury Group.
What choices must a biographer make when stitching together a life into a coherent narrative? This intriguing and witty collection of essays by an acclaimed biographer explores how biography navigates myths, legends, and the inevitable gaps in a subject's story. Through various case studies, the author examines the challenges posed by absences and unprovable tales surrounding figures like Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jane Austen, Samuel Pepys, and Virginia Woolf. Notable essays include one that discusses Shelley's heart found in a book and another that analyzes five competing accounts of a dramatic moment in Austen's life, highlighting how biography engages with the private lives of famous women. The exploration of Woolf's life reveals the transformations her story has undergone through biography, fiction, and film, suggesting that no definitive version exists. Additionally, an essay on deathbed scenes reflects on how biographical conventions have evolved and why endings are imbued with special significance. Through these essays, the author sheds light on how biographers bring their subjects to life and offers captivating insights into the art of life-writing, articulating and redefining the parameters of this craft with wit and eloquence.
Good Fiction Guide
- 520 Seiten
- 19 Lesestunden
Offers subject essays and more than one thousand author entries and four thousand fiction titles, covering a wide variety of genres and styles for literary, contemporary, and popular fiction, along with reading suggestions, lists of authors' favorite books, international selections, and other helpful sections. Reprint.
A Passionate Apprentice
The Early Journals 1897-1909 - With Seven New Journal Entries Published in Paperback for the First Time
- 462 Seiten
- 17 Lesestunden
A Passionate Apprentice comprises the first years of Virginia Woolf's Journal - from 1879 to 1909. Beginning in early January, when Woolf was almost fifteen, the pages open at a time when she was slowly recovering from a period of madness following her mother's death in May 1895. Between this January and the autumn of 1904, Woolf would suffer the deaths of her half-sister and of her father, and survive a summer of madness and suicidal depression. Behind the loss and confusion, however, and always near the surface of her writing is a constructive force at work - a powerful impulse towards health. It was an urge, through writing, to bring order and continuity out of chaos. Putting things into words and giving them deliberate expression had the effect of restoring reality to much that might otherwise have remained insubstantial. This early chronicle represents the beginning of the future Virginia Woolf's apprenticeship as a novelist. These pages show that rare instance when a writer of great importance leaves behind not only the actual documents of an apprenticeship, but also a biographical record of that momentous period as well. In Woolf's words, 'Here is a volume of fairly acute life (the first really lived year of my life).'
Elizabeth Bowen
- 421 Seiten
- 15 Lesestunden
Der gesundheitliche Zusammenbruch des Vaters beendet die kindliche Idylle, als Elizabeth Bowen sieben Jahre alt ist. Mit ihrer Mutter geht sie nach England, wo die weitverzweigte Familie lebt, und sie von einer Villa zur anderen gereicht werden. Dieser vagabundierende Lebensstil ist die Basis vieler unsicherer Kindheiten, die Bowen in ihren Romanen beschreiben wird.§Nach Jahren im Internat, dem Schulabschluss und zwei Semestern Kunststudium entscheidet sich Elizabeth Bowen anders: sie will das literarische Leben in London "einfangen", wie sie es nennt, und beginnt mit dem Schreiben. Der literarische Erfolg kommt früh: der 1923 veröffentlichte Erzählungsband "Encounters" ist der Auftakt zu einer großen literarischen Karriere. Ihr Haus in London wird zum Treffpunkt der damaligen Schriftsteller-Szene.§Hermione Lee beschreibt das Leben Elizabeth Bowens und führt durch ihre Romane und Erzählungen: entstanden ist das umfassende Portrait einer großen Autorin des 20. Jahrhunderts, die es für Deutschland zu entdecken.
Virginia Woolf
- 1152 Seiten
- 41 Lesestunden
'Mein Gott, wie schreibt man eine Biographie?' Dieses Zitat Virginia Woolfs eröffnet eine Lebensbeschreibung, die in vielen Rezensionen als biographisches Meisterstück gerühmt worden ist. Mit ihrem monumentalen Werk macht Hermione Lee unser Bild von Virginia Woolf um einige Klischees ärmer und um viele Nuancen reicher. Sie setzt sich intensiv und skeptisch mit den oft wiederholten Darstellungen von ihr als Opfer - ihres düsteren viktorianischen Elternhauses, der sexuellen Zudringlichkeit ihrer älteren Brüder, ihrer Geisteskrankheit - auseinander und zeigt, mit welchem Mut Virginia Woolf sich im Lauf ihres Lebens ihren frühen Erfahrungen und inneren Widersprüchen stellte und sie kraftvoll umsetzte in ihr literarisches Werk. Mit großem Feingefühl geht die Autorin den wichtigsten Beziehungen in Virginia Woolfs Leben - zu ihrer Schwester Vanessa, zu ihrem Mann Leonard, zu Vita Sackville-West - nach und definiert sie anders, als man es bisher gewohnt war. Hermione Lee widmet sich ihrem Gegenstand mit leidenschaftlichem Interesse und genauester Kenntnis. Sie kommt zu überraschenden Ergebnissen und präsentiert sie mit schriftstellerischem Glanz.
Zum Leuchtturm
- 304 Seiten
- 11 Lesestunden
Das Ehepaar Ramsay, ihre acht Kinder und mehrere Hausgäste verbringen den Sommer in ihrem Landhaus auf der schottischen Isle of Skye. James, der Jüngste, wünscht sich nichts sehnlicher, als mit dem Boot zum Leuchtturm hinauszufahren. »Natürlich, wenn es schön wird«, versichert Mrs Ramsay. »Aber es wird nicht schön«, erklärt Mr Ramsay – und macht alle Hoffnung des Sechsjährigen erbarmungslos zunichte. Zehn Jahre und der ganze Erste Weltkrieg vergehen, bis die Fahrt stattfinden kann. In Zum Leuchtturm zeichnet Virginia Woolf auf meisterhafte Weise das innere Erleben von einer Handvoll Figuren an wenigen Tagen in den Jahren 1910 und 1920 nach, erforscht Machtverhältnisse in Familienbeziehungen und zwischen den Geschlechtern und nähert sich ihren eigenen Kindheitserinnerungen.
The secret self I : short stories by women
- 384 Seiten
- 14 Lesestunden
A selection from the GOLDEN TREASURY, which has remained the most famous poetry anthology since publication in 1861
The Duke's children
- 694 Seiten
- 25 Lesestunden
Designed for both general readers and students of English literature at all levels, this edition of Trollope's novel contains an introduction, notes and comments on the text.






