Feminist Literary Classics - Volume IV - A Room of One's Own - Jane Eyre - The Song of the Lark

by Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Brontë, Willa Cather

Overview

Presented here is Volume IV of our Feminist Literary Classics series, featuring three of the most important feminist works ever written: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. The first book in this collection is A Room of One's Own, a groundbreaking examination of women's roles in literary history by English author Virginia Woolf that delves into the barriers that prevented female writers from seeing their works in print. A widely hailed and essential piece of feminist writing, it is among Woolf's most admired works. Next is a classic tale of survival and resilience, Charlotte Brontë's brilliant "Jane Eyre," in which we meet young Jane, an orphan who is cast out by her family and must learn to forge her own way in life. Both a thrilling saga of strength and perseverance and a heartwarming love story, "Jane Eyre" is one of the most beloved and cherished novels in English literature. And finally, we present The Song of the Lark, Willa Cather's final book of her classic "Prairie Trilogy," which tells the story of budding artist Thea Kronbog, who rises from complete obscurity in a tiny Colorado town to become a world-renowned opera singer. A fascinating look at life in the early 20th century as well as a deep dive into the life and struggles of a creative artist rising to the top of her profession, "The Song of the Lark" was universally praised for its realism and meticulous depiction of Thea's journey. Each of these books is presented in its original and unabridged format.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798892820561
Publisher:	Ft. Raphael Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/01/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	632
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Adeline Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) née Stephen, was an English writer, publisher and feminist. She is considered one of the most important early 20th-century authors and was an early practitioner of what became known as "stream of consciousness" writing. From 1897 to 1901, Virginia attended the Ladies' Department of King's College London, where she studied of classical writing and history and where she came into contact with some of the early reformers of both women's higher education and the women's rights movement. When their mother, Julia, died of influenza in 1895, Virginia's the older siblings took on their mother's role in raising the children. This period is when Virginia first began to battle mental illness, which would plague her throughout her life. In 1912, Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a strong supporter of Virginia's budding writing career. Virginia published her first book - The Voyage Out - in 1915 through her half-brother's publishing house but soon afterwards Virginia and Leonard Woolf founded Hogarth Press which would publish most of Virginia's novels as well as works by E.M. Forster and T.S. Eliot. The best known of Virginia's literary works include Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928).Virginia and Leonard Woolf's relationship was based on mutual respect but not a great deal of physical attraction. Virginia was most likely a lesbian, though some have argued that she may have been bisexual. At any rate, Virginia had affairs with several women (most notably Vita Sackville-West, who inspired Woolf's novel Orlando).Virginia Woolf enjoyed great literary success in her lifetime and her books have been translated into more than 50 languages. Though her popularity waned in the years following her death, the feminist movement of the 1970's did much to revive her reputation and solidify her as one of the most important writers of the 20th century.Mental illness continued to trouble Woof for the rest of her life, causing her to be institutionalized several times. In 1941, Woolf wrote a suicide note, filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in the River Ouse in Yorkshire.
Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) was an English novelist and poet and the eldest of a trio of legendary writers who became known as "the Brontë sisters." Each of the three sisters managed to create novels that would become classics of English literature: Charlotte's "Jane Eyre," Emily's "Wuthering Heights" and Anne's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall." The oldest of six children born to clergyman Patrick Brontë and his wife Maria, Charlotte attended the Clergy Daughter's School, which was so poorly run and unsanitary that Charlotte would later blame their attendance at this school for the deaths of two of her sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, both of whom died of tuberculosis. The four surviving siblings, Branwell, Emily, Anne and Charlotte, created an imaginary world called "Glass Town," and would each contribute poems, stories and geographical details of this mythical place to help them escape the difficulties of their childhood and would plant the seeds for their later literary success. At the time, the idea of publishing a female author was frowned upon, thus Charlotte and her sisters created a pseudonymous trio of brothers - Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell - in order to get their books into print. Charlotte's first book, "The Professor" was not accepted by a publisher, but her second book, "Jane Eyre," was an immediate success. Charlotte's sisters each published their own books but their enjoyment of their literary success was short-lived. The family suffered the deaths of Branwell, Emily and Anne in just a few short months in late 1848/early 1949 (the latter two of tuberculosis) and Charlotte herself, while struggling through her first, difficult pregnancy, died in 1854 at the age of thirty-eight. Few families in history have produced as many literary powerhouses as the Brontë sisters and their works have been adapted numerous times for the stage and screen.
Willa Cather was an American novelist who wrote tales of the Great Plains and stories of immigrant and migrant families who settled the American West. She won the Pulitzer Prize for her book "One of Ours," which explored romantic idealism, the frustrations of life in middle America and how World War I profoundly changed the lives of the young men who fought in the conflict. It was published in 1923.Cather was born in Virginia, but her family relocated to Nebraska when Willa was nine years old. They settled in the town of Red Cloud, where her father initially attempted to become a farmer, but eventually moved into the real estate and insurance business. Willa attended school for the first time after the family arrived in Nebraska.Eventually, she would graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and spend ten years in Pittsburgh, working as a teacher and a magazine editor at Home Monthly, often contributing her own stories and poems to the publication. After working at the Pittsburgh Leader, Cather moved to New York and began working as an editor at McClure's Magazine where she also contributed stories. They would eventually serialize her first novel, "Alexander's Bridge" in 1912.Cather followed up her first book with what would become known as the "Prairie Trilogy": "O Pioneers!" (1913), "Song of the Lark" (1915) and "My Antonia" 1918. By this time, Cather had firmly established herself as a writer and her Pulitzer for "One of Ours" would forever cement her as a major figure in American literature. Her follow-up, "Death Comes for the Archbishop" (1927) would be cited as one of Modern Library's Best 100 Novels of the 20th century.She lived with her domestic partner, Edith Lewis, for 39 years before developing breast cancer and dying of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1947. She is buried beside Lewis in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

Date of Birth:

January 25, 1882

Date of Death:

March 28, 1941

Place of Birth:

London

Place of Death:

Sussex, England

Education:

Home schooling