Introducing... Virginia Woolf

Ok, so most people hear the name Virginia Woolf and freak out: her books are tough and no sane person reads them outside lecture halls. I agree but, call me crazy, she's also one of my favourite literary figures. I say 'literary figure' because, aside from writing, she's simply a fascinating person.

To give you a taster, she was, hilariously, involved in the Dreadnought Hoax, which I won't go in to other than to say it involved skin darkeners and turbans... and is really worth Googling. On the flip-side, she suffered from depression, which tragically led to her suicide in 1941.

Her books aren't easy but they're short and you feel a massive sense of achievement when you finish one! Here are some of my favs...

Between the Acts (1941): The first VW novel I read - set just before WW1, an English village is putting on a play. The plot's simple, making up for any other complexities, and so definitely a good one to start with. Interestingly, it was published posthumously.

Mrs Dalloway (1925): Arguably her most famous novel but I have to admit, I only had a crack at reading it after I read Michael Cunningham's The Hours, which gives a clear idea of the Mrs Dalloway story and an insight into Woolf herself.

A Room of One's Own (1929) - A brilliant essay and, in the days of meaningful msn statuses, would have been a fab quote source... It's feminist but not aggressive, exploring women and writing at a time when literature was dominated by men.

Other books by Virginia Woolf: The Voyage Out (1915), Night and Day (1919), Jacob's Room (1922), To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928), The Waves (1931), The Years (1937)