If, like me, you find Virginia Woolf's novels hard going, you must nevertheless read these autobiographical memoirs. They were not intended for publication and in consequence perhaps are in parts very funny, indiscreet, moving and shocking. They were first published in 1976 and a new edition with 75 previously unpublished pages was published in 1985. This new material is very significant since it deals with Virginia's and Vanessa's difficult relationship with their father and the extraordinary family ambiance in which they lived. When this 1985 edition appeared, as Hermione Lee says in her introduction, it seems to have slipped below the critical radar (my phrase!) and was virtually ignored. At that time I was reading Virginia Woolf's diaries and letters (which I can also say are immensely readable) and I am sure I would have heard about this volumn if it had been widely reviewed.
A fascinating portrait of a remarkable woman.