Book-Length Biographical Treatments
of Virginia Woolf

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Arranged in chronological order, with most recent work first

Lee, Hermione. Virginia Woolf. Alfred A. Knopf. 1997.

This most recent biography has been critically well-received. It is meticulously researched and written with charm, wit, and humanity. While the volume of scholarship on Woolf has reached such proportions that no one can cite everything, Lee does a good job of rounding up all primary source material, and her judgments on controversial issues always seem measured and humane. Will probably replace Bell as the definitive biography.

Reid, Panthea. Art and Affection: Life of Virginia Woolf. NY: Oxford UP, 1996.

This new biography takes advantage of the vast amounts of new materials made available to focus especially on Woolf’s relationship to the arts and to her sister Vanessa.

King, James. Virginia Woolf. NY: W.W. Norton, 1994.

This enormous tome is available in remainder for good reason. It is diligent and detailed but adds little to previous interpretations.

Caramagno, Thomas D. The Flight of the Mind: Virginia Woolf's Art and Manic-Depressive Illness. Berkeley: U of California P, 1992.

Very balanced and perceptive; argues that VW suffered from manic-depressive cycles like much of her family. Debunks many psychoanalytic interps as over-complicated and fanciful. Defends Wool's sanity and creativity.

Bishop, Edward. A Virginia Woolf Chronology. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall & Co., 1989.

Nearly day-by-listing of Woolf's activities.

DeSalvo, Louise. Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Her Life and Work. Boston: Little Brown, 1989.

Revolutionary re-assessment of effect of childhood molestation on Woolf's life and works. Integrates feminist scholarship on abuse, reinterpreting novels as polemic against power of males in family, but reasoning may be somewhat circular.

Rosenman, Ellen Bayuk. The Invisible Presence: Virginia Woolf and the Mother-Daughter Relationship. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1986.

Sensible and balanced use of mildly psycho-biographical perspective, focusing on mother.

Gordon, Lyndall. Virginia Woolf: A Writer's Life. NYC: W.W.Norton, 1985.

Genial and well-written; extends authorized portrait in Bell by adding in discussion of the evolution of the writing

Poole, Roger. The Unknown Virginia Woolf. Cambridge UP, 1978.

Caused a great deal of controversy because it analyzed Woolf's madness as "making sense." Attempts to understand symptoms in light of power politics of contemporary medical practice, which refused to listen to patients.

Bell, Quentin. Virginia Woolf: A Biography. Harcourt, 1972.(R)

The "definitive", family-authorized biography. Has access to all family papers but has been widely accused of over-idealization and trivialization for discounting feminism and political views and naively accepting Dr.'s views of Woolf's "madness." (Cf. Jane Marcus especially)

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