Library of Luminaries: Virginia Woolf: An Illustrated Biography

by Zena Alkayat, Nina Cosford (Illustrator)

Overview

One of literature's most beloved authors is beautifully documented in this illustrated biography of Virginia Woolf. Featuring handwritten text paired with beguiling illustrations and a tactile cover with foil-stamped and debossed details, this giftable package reveals the formative events of Woolf's life: how she was supported—and challenged—in her craft, her struggles with mental illness, and how her great works came to be. With lines pulled from Woolf's own letters featured alongside interesting details, such as her nickname for her husband and how slowly her first novel sold, this intimate guide makes a thoughtful gift for literature lovers and book clubbers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452150222
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/15/2016
Series:	Library of Luminaries Series
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Zena Alkayat is a journalist, author, and editor based in London.

Nina Cosford is a freelance illustrator based in Hastings, England.

Editorial Reviews

Alkayat narrates with succulent concision…Cosford's charming illustrations contain echoes of the Provensens and Maira Kalman, yet stand as thoroughly original.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Popova

"Follows Virginia Woolf's life from a childhood marked by love and loss to her dogged rise as one of humanity's most significant writers. Intersecting her life are larger threads - the women's suffrage movement, the artists and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury group, the world wars. Zena Alkayat narrates with succulent concision, but her affectionate admiration for Woolf shows. Nina Cosford's charming illustrations contain echoes of the Provensens and Maira Kalman, yet stand as thoroughly original. Spliced into the story are Woolf's own beguiling lines." — New York Times

"Follows Virginia Woolf's life from a childhood marked by love and loss to her dogged rise as one of humanity's most significant writers. Intersecting her life are larger threads - the women's suffrage movement, the artists and intellectuals of the Bloomsbury group, the world wars. Zena Alkayat narrates with succulent concision, but her affectionate admiration for Woolf shows. Nina Cosford's charming illustrations contain echoes of the Provensens and Maira Kalman, yet stand as thoroughly original. Spliced into the story are Woolf's own beguiling lines." — New York Times

"Writer Zena Alkayat and artist Nina Cosford explore Woolf's remarkable life with equal parts concision, compassion, and unsentimental reverence." — Brain Pickings

"Writer Zena Alkayat and artist Nina Cosford explore Woolf's remarkable life with equal parts concision, compassion, and unsentimental reverence." — Brain Pickings

From the Publisher