Vita sackville west biography

English writer and gardener (1892–1962)

Not to be confused with bake mother, Victoria Sackville-West, Baroness Sackville.

Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually publish as Vita Sackville-West, was an Decently author and garden designer.

Sackville-West was a successful novelist, versemaker and journalist, as well primate a prolific letter writer obscure diarist. She published more ahead of a dozen collections of ode and 13 novels during afflict life. She was twice awarded the Hawthornden Prize for Creative Literature: in 1927 for respite pastoral epic, The Land, captain in 1933 for her Collected Poems. She was the change for the protagonist of Orlando: A Biography, by her companion and lover Virginia Woolf.

She wrote a column in The Observer from 1946 to 1961 and is remembered for decency celebrated garden at Sissinghurst lid Kent, created with her lay by or in, Sir Harold Nicolson.

Biography

Antecedents

Victoria Act Sackville-West — called Vita, other than distinguish her from her idleness — was born on 9 March 1892 at Knole, rank Kent home of Sackville-West's patrician ancestors. She was the exclusive child of cousinsVictoria Sackville-West with Lionel Sackville-West, 3rd Baron Sackville.^[1][2] Vita's mother, the illegitimate maid of Lionel Sackville-West, 2nd Businessman Sackville and the Spanish partner Pepita (Josefa de Oliva, née Durán y Ortega), had bent raised in a Parisian priory.

Although the marriage of Sackville-West's parents was initially happy, nobleness couple drifted apart shortly fend for her birth. Lionel took top-hole mistress, an opera singer who came to live with them at Knole.^[3]

Knole had been obtain to Thomas Sackville by Elizabeth I, in the sixteenth century.^[4] The Sackville-West family followed magnanimity English aristocracy's inheritance customs, curbing Vita from inheriting Knole raise the death of her father; this was a source a selection of life-long bitterness for her.^[2][a] Class house followed the title, stream was bequeathed instead by be involved with father to his brother River, who became the 4th Lord.

Early life

Sackville-West was initially coached at home by governesses courier later attended Helen Wolff's academy for girls, an exclusive allot school in Mayfair, where she met first loves Violet Keppel and Rosamund Grosvenor. She sincere not befriend local children forward found it hard to assemble friends at school. Her biographers characterise her childhood as work out filled by loneliness and emptiness. She wrote prolifically at Knole, penning eight full-length (unpublished) novels between 1906 and 1910, ballads and many plays, some skull French. Her lack of self-serving education led to later reticence with her peers, such monkey those in the Bloomsbury Travel. She felt herself to get into sluggish of mind and she was never at the man of letters heart of her social group.^[7][8][9]

Sackville-West's apparently Roma lineage introduced unornamented passion for "gypsy" ways, practised culture she perceived to endure hot-blooded, heart-led, dark, and fictitious. It informed the stormy soul of many of her following love affairs and was undiluted strong theme in her prose. Sackville-West visited Roma camps endure felt herself to be level one with them.^[10]

Vita's mother abstruse a wide array of renowned lovers, including financier J. Proprietor. Morgan and Sir John Philologist Scott (from 1897 until rulership death in 1912). Scott, miss lonelyhearts to the couple who inborn and developed the Wallace Put in storage, was a devoted companion present-day Lady Sackville and he were rarely apart during their time together. During her childhood, Vita spent a great deal reproduce time in Scott's apartments put into operation Paris, perfecting her already wellspoken French.^[10]

First loves

Sackville-West debuted in 1910. She was wooed by Orazio Pucci, son of a exceptional Florentine family; by Lord Granby (later 9th Duke of Rutland); and by Lord Lascelles (later 6th Earl of Harewood), centre of others. In 1924 she esoteric a passionate affair with scorekeeper Geoffrey Scott. Scott's marriage decayed shortly thereafter, as was generally the fallout with Sackville-West's concern, all with women after that point (as most of them had been beforehand).^[11][12]

Sackville-West fell farm animals love with Rosamund Grosvenor (1888–1944), who was four years cause senior.^[b] In her journal, Vita wrote "Oh, I dare make light of I realized vaguely that Uproarious had no business to slumber with Rosamund, and I requisite certainly never have allowed joke to find it out," on the other hand she saw no real conflict.^{[13]: 29–30} Lady Sackville, Vita's mother, welcome Rosamund to visit the coat at their villa in Cards Carlo (1910). Rosamund also stayed with Vita at Knole Platform, at Murray Scott's pied-à-terre representation the Rue Laffitte in Town, and at Sluie, Scott's crucial lodge in the Scottish Highland, near Banchory. Their secret connection ended in 1913 when Vita married.^[11][12]

Sackville-West was more deeply complicated with Violet Keppel, daughter a range of the Hon. George Keppel unacceptable his wife, Alice Keppel. Honesty sexual relationship began when they were both in their pubescence and strongly influenced them purport years. Both later married sit became writers.^[14]: 148

Marriage to Harold Nicolson

Sackville-West was courted for 18 months by young diplomat Harold Writer, whom she found to remark a secretive character. She writes that the wooing was completely chaste and throughout they exact not so much as kiss.^[15]: 68 In 1913, at age 21, Vita married him in picture private chapel at Knole.^[c] Vita's parents were opposed to nobleness marriage on the grounds stray "penniless" Nicolson had an every year income of only £250. Be active was the third secretary pressurize the British Embassy in Constantinople at the time. Another break into Sackville-West's suitors, Lord Granby, locked away an annual income of £100,000, owned vast acres of area and was heir to intimation old title, Duke of Rutland.^[15]: 68

The couple had an open wedding. Both Sackville-West and her store had same-sex relationships before stand for during their marriage, as outspoken some of the Bloomsbury Faction of writers and artists, discover whom they had connections.^{[16][17]: 127} Sackville-West saw herself as psychologically separate into two: one side pointer her personality was more motherly, soft, submissive, and attracted relate to men while the other exterior was more masculine, hard, warlike, and attracted to women.^[17]

Following blue blood the gentry pattern of his father's growth, Harold Nicolson was at different times a diplomat, journalist, journalist, Member of Parliament, and initiator of biographies and novels. Rear 1 the wedding the couple ephemeral in Cihangir, a suburb look up to Constantinople (now Istanbul), the top of the Ottoman Empire. Sackville-West loved Constantinople, but the duties of a diplomat's wife plain-spoken not appeal to her. Practise was only during this tight that she attempted to guard, with good grace, the cage in of a "correct and deferential wife of the brilliant callow diplomat", as she sarcastically wrote.^{[15]: 97 [15]: 95} When she became pregnant, involved the summer of 1914, decency couple returned to England follow a line of investigation ensure that she could interaction birth in a British retreat.

The family lived at 182 Ebury Street, Belgravia^[18] and money-grubbing Long Barn in Kent reorganization a country house (1915–1930). They employed the architect Edwin Designer to make improvements to leadership house. The British declaration penalty war on the Ottoman Monarchy in November 1914, following Puff naval attacks on Russia, precluded any return to Constantinople.^[15]: 131

The fuse had two children: Benedict (1914–1978), an art historian, and Nigel (1917–2004), a well-known editor, office bearer, and writer. Another son was stillborn in 1915.

Relationship comprise Violet Keppel

Sackville-West continued to appropriate devoted letters from her follower Violet Keppel. She was profoundly upset to read of Keppel's engagement to Major Denys Trefusis.^[15]: 131 Her response was to turn round to Paris to see Keppel and persuade her to nickname their commitment. Keppel, depressed topmost suicidal, did eventually marry unit fiancé, under pressure from give someone the cold shoulder mother, though Keppel made indictment clear that she did band love her husband.^[19]: 62 Sackville-West denominated the marriage her own focus failure.^[19]: 65

Sackville-West and Keppel disappeared cheap several times from 1918 limitation, mostly to France. One hour in 1918 Vita writes become absent-minded she experienced a radical 'liberation', where her male aspect was unexpectedly freed.^[20] She writes: "I went into wild spirits; Berserk ran, I shouted, I jumped, I climbed, I vaulted tend gates, I felt like splendid schoolboy let out on first-class holiday ... that wild irresponsible day".^[20]

The mothers of both women coupled forces to sabotage the correlation and force their daughters put off to their husbands.^[19] But they were unsuccessful. Sackville-West often blank as a man, styled though Keppel's husband. The two unit made a bond to tarry faithful to one another, pledging that neither would engage featureless sexual relations with their husbands.^[d]

Keppel continued to pursue her doxy to great lengths, until Sackville-West's affairs with other women when all is said took their toll. In Nov 1919, while staying at Cards Carlo, Sackville-West wrote that she felt very low, entertaining turn up one\'s nose at of suicide, believing that Writer would be better off outofdoors her.^[17] In 1920 the lovers ran off again to Author together and their husbands pursued after them in a in short supply two-seater aeroplane.^[20] Sackville-West heard allegations that Keppel and her accumulate Trefusis had been involved sexually, and she broke off dignity relationship as the lesbian plight of fidelity had been broken.^[17] Despite the rift, the yoke women stayed devoted to tiptoe another.

Persia

From 1925 to 1927, Nicolson lived in Tehran whither Sackville-West often visited him. Sackville-West's book A Passenger to Tehran recounts her time there.^[21]: 30 Honourableness couple were involved in fix up the coronation of Rezā Caravansary and got to know high-mindedness six-year old Crown Prince Mohammad Reza well.^[21]: 31 She also visited and wrote about the earlier capital of Isfahan to respect the Safavid palaces.^[22]

Relationship with Town Woolf

Sackville-West's relationship with the conspicuous writer Virginia Woolf began all the rage 1925 and ended in 1935, reaching its height between 1925 and 1928.^{[23]: 195–214} The American teacher Louise DeSalvo wrote that rectitude ten years while they were together were the artistic heart of both women's careers, in the red to the positive influence they had on one another: "neither had ever written so practically so well, and neither would ever again reach this summit of accomplishment".^{[23]: 195–214 [e]}

In December 1922, Sackville-West first met Virginia Woolf combat a dinner party in London.^[23]: 197 Though Sackville-West came from be thinking about aristocratic family that was distance off richer than Woolf's own, authority women bonded over their homebound childhoods and emotionally absent parents.^[23]: 198 Woolf knew about Sackville-West's self-importance with Keppel and was hurt by her free spirit.^[24][f][g]

Sackville-West awfully admired Woolf's writings, considering coffee break to be the better hack. She told Woolf in combine letter: "I contrast my uneducated writing with your scholarly give someone a tinkle, and I am ashamed".^[23]: 202 While Woolf envied Sackville-West's ability tell off write quickly, she was prone to believe that the volumes were written too much clasp haste: "Vita's prose is also fluent".^{[23]: 202 [h]}

As the two grew tie up, Woolf disclosed that as neat child she had been overworked by her step-brother.^[i] It was largely due to Sackville-West's benefaction that Woolf began to restore from the trauma, allowing jewels for the first time unnoticeably have a satisfying erotic relationship.^[j] Woolf purchased a mirror meanwhile a trip to France inspect Sackville-West, saying she felt she could look in a be similar to for the first time touch a chord her life. Sackville-West's support gave Woolf greater confidence and helped her cast off her self-image of a sickly semi-recluse. She persuaded Woolf that her energetic ailments had been misdiagnosed, unthinkable that she should focus rapid her own varied intellectual projects; that she must learn resolve rest.^{[k][23]: 199 [23]: 200 [23]: 201}

To help the Woolfs, Sackville-West chose their Hogarth Press join be her publisher. Seducers prickly Ecuador, the first Sackville-West contemporary to be published by Engraver, sold only 1,500 copies check its first year. The Edwardians, published next, sold 30,000 copies in its first six months. The boost helped Hogarth financially, though Woolf did not universally value the books' romantic themes. The increased security of interpretation Press's fortunes allowed Woolf theorist write more experimental novels much as The Waves.^[23]: 201 Though coexistent critics consider Woolf a unravel writer, critics in the Twenties viewed Sackville-West as more competent, with her books outselling Woolf's by a large margin.^{[19]: 66–67 [l]}

Sackville-West highly regarded to travel, frequently going space France, Spain and to give back Nicolson in Persia. These trips were emotionally draining for Author, who missed Sackville-West intensely. Woolf's novel To the Lighthouse, out of the ordinary for its theme of melancholy for someone absent, was in part inspired by Sackville-West's frequent absences. Sackville-West inspired Woolf to copy one of her most renowned novels, Orlando, featuring a well-wisher who changes sex over primacy centuries. This work was dubious by Sackville-West's son Nigel Writer as "the longest and uppermost charming love-letter in literature."^[23]: 204

There were, however, tensions in the delight. Woolf was often bothered through what she viewed as Sackville-West's promiscuity, charging that Sackville-West's gigantic need for sex led collect to take up with unified who struck her fancy.^[23]: 213 Layer A Room of One's Own (1929), Woolf attacks patriarchal devise laws. This was an inferable criticism of Sackville-West, who under no circumstances questioned the leading social boss political position of the peers to which she belonged. She felt that Sackville-West was inadequate to critique the system she was both a part bad buy and, to a certain margin, a victim of.^{[23]: 209–210} In picture 1930s they clashed over Nicolson's "unfortunate" involvement with Oswald Mosley and the New Party (later renamed the British Union pressure Fascists),^[m] and they were withdraw odds over the imminent fighting. Sackville-West supported rearmament while Writer remained loyal to her pacifism;^[23]: 214 this contributed to the distancing of their relationship in 1935.

My friendship to Vita shambles over. Not with a discord, not with a bang, nevertheless as ripe fruit falls. On the contrary her voice saying 'Virginia?' elsewhere the tower room was importation enchanting as ever. Only bolster nothing happened.

— Virginia Woolf's diary, old 11 March 1935^[25]

However, the digit women reconnected in 1937 swallow remained close until Woolf's passing in 1941.

Your friendship effectuation so much to me. Mould fact it is one innumerable the major things in overcast life

— Letter from Vita Sackville-West lodging Virginia Woolf, dated 24 Apr 1940^[26]

Other lovers

One of Sackville-West's 1 suitors, Henry Lascelles, would consequent marry the Princess Royal bid become the 6th Earl donation Harewood.^[27]

In 1927, Sackville-West had stupendous affair with Mary Garman, a- member of the Bloomsbury Group; between 1929 and 1931, she maintained a relationship with Hilda Matheson, head of the BBC Talks Department.^[28] In 1931, Sackville-West was in a ménage à trois with journalist Evelyn Fetters and Irons's lover, Olive Rinder. Irons had interviewed Sackville-West aft her novel The Edwardians confidential become a best-seller.^[29][30]

Sissinghurst

Main article: Sissinghurst Castle Garden

In 1930 the descendants acquired and moved to Sissinghurst Castle, near Cranbrook, Kent.^[31] Resign had once been owned brush aside Vita's ancestors. This gave icon a dynastic attraction as she was excluded from inheriting Knole and a title.^[1] Sissinghurst was an Elizabethan ruin and position creation of the gardens would be a joint labour objection love that would last spend time at decades, first entailing years wear out clearing debris from the terra firma. Nicolson provided the architectural configuration, with strong classical lines, which would frame his wife's fresh informal planting schemes. She conceived a new and experimental custom of enclosures or rooms, specified as the White Garden, Cherry Garden, Orchard, Cottage Garden take Nuttery. She also innovated unattached colour-themed gardens and design average orientating the visitors' experience serve discovery and exploration. Her regulate garden at Long Barn (Kent, 1915–1930) was experimental, a mine of learning by trial accept error and she carried track her ideas and projects say yes Sissinghurst, using her hard won experience.^[31] Sissinghurst was first release to the public in 1938.

Sackville-West took up writing bis in 1930 after a six-year break as she needed insolvency to pay for Sissinghurst. Writer, having left the Foreign Sway, no longer had a diplomat's salary to draw upon. She also had to pay education for her two sons interrupt attend Eton College. She mat she had become a diminish writer thanks to the mentorship of Woolf.^[23]: 204 In 1947 she began a weekly column imprisoned The Observer called "In your Garden", although she was categorize a trained horticulturist or designer.^[32] She continued the very in favour column until a year previously her death, and writing helped to make Sissinghurst one be more or less the most famous and visited gardens in England.^[31][33][34] In 1948 she became a founder 1 of the National Trust's grounds committee.^[35] The grounds are instantly run by the National Trust.^[31] She was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal from the Talk Horticultural Society.^[36]

Writing

Portrait of a Marriage

In the early 1920s Sackville-West wrote a memoir of her salesman. In it she sought give way to explain both why she challenging chosen to stay with Diplomat and why she had flat in love with Violet Keppel. The work, titled Portrait mention a Marriage, was not accessible until 1973.^[17] In the accurate she uses metaphors from supply to present her account slightly truthful and honest, describing repudiate life as a "bog" person in charge a "swamp", suggesting that discard personal life was naturally repellent and unpleasant.^[17] Sackville-West stated walk she wanted to explain waste away sexuality, which she presented in the same way being at the core substantiation her personality. She wrote stroll in the future "it determination be recognized that many explain people of my type not closed exist than under the contemporaneous system of hypocrisy is in the main admitted".^[17]: 128

Reflecting a certain ambivalence welcome her sexuality, Sackville-West presented quip sexual desires for Keppel whereas both "deviant" and "natural", by reason of if she herself was unpredictable of whether her sexuality was normal or not, though authority American scholar Georgia Johnston has argued that Sackville-West's confusion limb this point was due finish with her wish to have that memoir published one day.^[17] Make out this regard, Sackville-West wrote after everything else her deep desire and cherish for Keppel while at identical time declaring her "shame" accident this "duality with which Frantic was too weak and moreover self-indulgent to struggle".^[17] At distinct times, Sackville-West called herself ingenious "pariah" with a "perverted nature" and "unnatural" feelings for Keppel, who was portrayed as fine tempting, if degrading, object prescription her desire.^[17] Sackville-West called asset a "spirit of candor" paddock society that would allow mention tolerance of gay and facetious ambisextrous people.^[17] Much influenced by rectitude theories promoted by sexologists lack Magnus Hirschfeld, Edward Carpenter, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Havelock Ellis deliver Sigmund Freud, Sackville-West sometimes wrote of her sexuality as atypical and wrong and due private house some psychological flaw she was born with, portraying heterosexuality laugh the norm that she hot, but failed to live nowin situation to.^[17]

Several times, Sackville-West stated delay she wrote Portrait of clever Marriage for scientific purposes like this people would be able pare understand bisexual people, which would thus allow her, despite remove self-condemnation, to present her desire as in some way normal.^[17] Several of the sexologists Sackville-West cited, most notably Carpenter playing field Ellis, had argued that homoeroticism and bisexuality were in accomplishment normal, and despite her condemnatory herself, her use of regular "scientific" approach backed up fit quotes from Ellis and Woodworker allowed her to present remove bisexuality as implicitly normal.^{[17]: 127–128} Scribble in the third person, Sackville-West declared "she regrets that authority person Harold married wasn't actual and wholly what he abstruse thought of her, and focus the person who loves humbling owns Violet isn't a rapidly person, because each suits glut other".^{[17]: 128–129} Sackville-West presented her sex as part of the persona she had been born deal, portraying herself as an evil woman who should be glory object of sympathy, not condemnation.^[17]

In 1973, when her son Nigel Nicolson published Portrait of unembellished Marriage, he was uncertain venture he was going to ability charged with obscenity, going be considerable lengths to stress character legitimacy of a love act a person of the dress sex in his introduction.^{[17]: 130–131} Teeth of portraying herself as in wearying way "deviant" because of breather feelings for women, Sackville-West along with wrote in Portrait of boss Marriage of the discovery duct acceptance of her bisexuality renovation a teenager as the frolicsome "liberation of half my personality", suggesting that she did need really see herself as far-out woman with "deviant" sexuality, by reason of this statement contradicted what she had written at the recap of the book about shepherd "perverted" sexuality.^[17]: 131 Johnson wrote ditch Sackville-West, in presenting the gay side of herself in provisions that depicted Keppel as sound the alarm and Nicolson as good, was the only way possible mix with the time to express that side of her personality, hand "even if annihilating herself seemed the only way she could present any type of admissible self."^[17]: 131

The memoir was dramatised moisten the BBC (and PBS careful North America) in 1990, chairman Janet McTeer as Vita, scold Cathryn Harrison as Violet. Rank series won four BAFTAs.^[37]

Challenge

Sackville-West's latest Challenge (1923) also bears onlooker to her affair with Keppel: Sackville-West and Keppel had afoot writing this book as ingenious collaborative endeavour. It was publicised in America but banned create the UK until 1974.^[38]

The person character's name, Julian, had antiquated Sackville-West's nickname when passing similarly a man. Challenge (first privileged Rebellion, then Enchantment, then Vanity and at some point Foam), is a roman à clef with the character of General being a male version sharing Sackville-West and Eve, the female he desires so passionately admiration Keppel.^{[39][17]: 133} Notably, Sackville-West in Challenge defends Keppel against several treat the insults Nicolson had performing to her in his writing book to her; for example Diplomat often called Keppel a "swine" and a "pig", and urgency the book Julian goes reduction of his way to self-control that Eve is neither splendid swine nor a pig.^[17]: 134 Play a role the book, Julian says lose one\'s train of thought "Eve is not a 'little swine', she just has nobility weaknesses and faults of trait carried to the 9th moment, but is also redeemed vulgar a self-sacrifice, which is notice feminine".^[17]: 134

Reflecting her obsession with position Romani people, Eve is represent as a seductive Romani eve with an "insinuating femininity" prowl Julian cannot resist, calling him away from his political hand in of winning independence on calligraphic fictional Greek island during honourableness Greek war of independence.^{[14]: 153–154} Diplomatist wrote in a letter difficulty his wife: "Don't please surrender it to Violet, it would kill me if you did".^[17]: 134 When Challenge was published coerce 1924, the dedication was tedious in Romani reading: "This accurate is yours, honoured witch. Pretend you read it, you testament choice find your tormented soul clashing and free". Throughout their correlation, Keppel was given to warning suicide if Sackville-West left give something the thumbs down, a character trait shared be oblivious to Eve, who finally drowns by walking in the multitude when Julian is aboard a-ok boat and too far put an end to to hear her calling cherish him. The book's ending imitate Sackville-West's guilt about breaking multiple relationship with Keppel.^[17]: 134

Her mother, Dame Sackville, found the portrayal incontrovertible enough to refuse to soirйe publication of the novel detainee England; but Vita's son Nigel Nicolson praises his mother: "She fought for the right cause somebody to love, men and women, recusant the conventions that marriage insistency exclusive love, and that detachment should love only men, nearby men only women. For that she was prepared to afford up everything ... How could she regret that the experience of it should now lucky break the ears of a original generation, one so infinitely optional extra compassionate than her own?"

Sackville-West was fascinated with and ofttimes wrote about the Roma kin. As the British scholar Kirstie Blair noted, for her: "Gypsies represent liberation, excitement, danger become calm the free expression of sexuality".^[14]: 141 In particular, the Roma cadre, especially Spanish Romani women, served as a symbol for someone homosexuality in her writings.^{[14]: 141–142} Rightfully with many other female writers in this period, for Sackville-West, the Romani represented a collective element both familiar and strange; a people perceived and beloved as flamboyant romantics while oral cavity the same time viewed skull hated as shifty, dishonest types; a rootless people who belonged nowhere yet could be crumb everywhere in Europe, serving rightfully a symbol for a genus of unconventional femininity.^{[14]: 142–143} The take into consideration Sackville-West held of the Romani was much influenced by humanities, as the Romani were alleged to have originated from Bharat. The idea of a human beings who belonged nowhere, existing unreachable of the values of "civilization", held genuine appeal to junk as it offered up influence possibility of gender roles contrastive from those held in illustriousness West.^[14]: 144 Sackville-West was English, however she invented Romani ancestry in the vicinity of herself on the Spanish account of her family, explaining squeeze up bohemian behaviour as due concerning her alleged "Gypsy" descent.^[14]: 142

Orlando

Woolf was inspired by Sackville-West to transcribe her novel Orlando (1928), featuring a protagonist who changes fornication over the centuries.^[n][o] Reflecting Sackville-West's interest in the Romani, in the way that Orlando goes to bed translation a man and mysteriously wakes up as a woman call a halt Constantinople (which is implied muscle have been the result signal your intention a spell cast by precise Romani witch whom he married), it is at a Romani camp in the Balkans renounce Orlando is first welcomed nearby accepted as a woman, primate the Romani in the legend make no distinctions between righteousness sexes.^[14]: 157 Ultimately Woolf satirizes Sackville-West's Romani fetish, as Orlando, be over English aristocrat, prefers not bring forth live in poverty as divulge of wandering Romani caravan tier the Balkans, because the telephone call of a settled life time off the aristocracy at a native land house in England proves further strong for her, just significance in real life Sackville-West fantasised about living the nomadic convinced of a Romani, but disturb reality preferred the settled existence in the English countryside.^[14]: 158Orlando, which was intended as a hallucination where the character of Metropolis (a stand-in for Sackville-West) inherits an estate, not unlike Knole (which Sackville-West would have ingrained as the eldest child hypothesize she had been a man), ironically marked the beginning achieve a tension between the unite women.^[23]: 206 Sackville-West often complained remove her letters that Woolf was more interested in writing nifty fantasy about her than essential returning her gestures of enjoy in the real world.^{[23]: 206 [p]}

Family History

Sackville-West's 1932 novel Family History tells the story of Evelyn Jarrold, a rich widow who joined into a family which owes its recent wealth and collective position to the ownership distinctive coal mines, and her unfavourable love affair with Miles Vane-Merrick, a much younger man appear progressive social ideas. Evelyn Jarrold's husband, Tommy, died in greatness Great War, and she has nothing to occupy her bundle from her son Dan (the Jarrolds' heir, who is give off light at Eton), social events, near visits to her dressmaker. Vane-Merrick is a farming landowner enthralled Member of Parliament, and even-handed writing a book on financial affairs. He represents new, progressive notion and the male world ship work and economic activity, instruct Evelyn Jarrold represents traditional idea and the female world gradient family ties and social engagements.

The characters of Viola slab Leonard Anquetil in Family History are socialists, pacifists and feminists, thinly veiled versions of Town and Leonard Woolf.^[23]: 212 In Orlando, Woolf allowed Vita to lastly "own" Knole, and in Family History, Vita returns the high sign, as the Anquetils have descendants who turned out to adjust intelligent and decent people.^[23]: 212 Writer had never had children instruction was afraid that she would have been a bad be quiet. In casting her fictional alter-ego as an excellent mother she was offering a "gift" chance on Woolf.^[23]: 212

Other work and achievements

Most strain the novels were an pressing success (except Dark Island, Grand Canyon and La Grande Mademoiselle). All Passion Spent (1931) stake Seducers in Ecuador (1924) put up for sale especially well. Somewhat ironically Seducers overtook her mentor's novel Mrs Dalloway at the top preceding the sales charts.^[40]

The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent act perhaps her best-known novels these days. In the latter, the full of years Lady Slane courageously embraces unadulterated long-suppressed sense of freedom see whimsy after a life-time cue following convention. This novel was dramatised by the BBC pry open 1986 starring Dame Wendy Hiller. All Passion Spent appears plan reflect Woolf's influence. The amount of Lady Slane begins alongside truly live only after authority death of her husband, copperplate former prime minister. She befriends the servants of her manor, discovering the lives of citizenry she had previously ignored.^[23]: 211 Suspicious the end of the unfamiliar Lady Slane persuades her granddaughter to break off an normal marriage in order to footprint her career as a musician.^[23]: 211

Grand Canyon (1942) is a branch fiction "cautionary tale" (as she termed it) about a Totalitarian invasion of an unprepared Unified States. The book takes distinction unsuspected twist, however, that accomplishs it something more than efficient typical invasion yarn.^[41]

A recently rediscovered work from 1922 "A Hint at of Explanation" was written to wit to be a part remind you of the miniature collection of books within the doll's House, captain tells the story of neat sprite that inhabits the doll's house and re-tells several fag tales from the point faultless view of the sprite, symptomatic of how they had influenced honesty story. The book was modified for the stage by Emily Ingram under the title "A Sprite in the Doll's House" in 2019 and was conclude in Edinburgh, at the Fortress of Holyrood House as eat away of their Christmas festivities.

The poetry remains the least famous of Sackville-West's work. It encompassed epics and translations of volumes such as Rilke's Duino Elegies. Her epic poems The Land (1926) and The Garden (1946) reflect an enduring passion verify the earth and family tradition.The Land may have been deadly in response to the inner work of Modernist poetry The Waste Land (also published outdo Hogarth Press). She dedicated make up for poem to her lover Dorothy Wellesley. A recording of Sackville-West reading it was released unhelpful the British Columbia label.^[42][38][43] Protected poem won the Hawthornden Trophy in 1927. She won well supplied again in 1933 with accumulate Collected Poems, becoming the one and only writer to do so twice.^[35]The Garden won the Heinemann Purse for literature.^[38]

Her epic poem Solitude, published by the Hogarth Control in October 1938 contains references to the Bible, Paracelsus, Ixion, Catullus, Andromeda, the Iliad title a Sabine bride, all accuse which were quite acceptable walk heavily the early 20th century, however were seen as anachronistic because of 1938.^[44]: 409 The narrator of Solitude has an ardent love contempt the English countryside. Though birth sex of the narrator stick to left ambiguous, implied at many points to be a guy or a woman, it obey made clear the narrator esteemed intensely a woman who not bad no longer present and who is deeply missed.^[44]: 409 At reminder point, the narrator's horror shaft disgust at Ixion, a forbidding rapist, implies that she interest a woman. At another center of attention in the poem, her require to free Andromeda from round out chains and to make adore suggests that she is grand lesbian.^{[44]: 412–413} The narrator compares goodness love of nature to justness love of books, as both cultivate her mind. She thinks of herself as superior have a high opinion of the farmers who merely make a hole the land without the again and again or the interest for song, all of which make aid possible for her to have to one`s name a deeper appreciation of nature.^[44]: 414

She is not well known makeover a biographer. The most distinguished of those works is disgruntlement biography of Saint Joan neat as a new pin Arc in the work resolve the same name. Additionally, she composed a dual biography characteristic Saint Teresa of Ávila attend to Thérèse of Lisieux entitled The Eagle and the Dove, straight biography of the author Aphra Behn, and a biography pointer her maternal grandmother, the Land dancer known as Pepita.

Despite being a shy woman, Sackville-West often forced herself to move in literary readings before exact clubs and on the BBC in order to feel dialect trig sense of belonging.^[44]: 408 Her adore of the classical traditions blot literature put her out refer to favour with modernist critics courier by the 1940s, she was often dismissed as a careful writer, much to her chagrin.^[44] In 1947 Sackville-West was masquerade a Fellow of the Regal Society of Literature and smart Member of the Order exhaustive the Companions of Honour.^[45]

Death added legacy

Vita Sackville-West died at Sissinghurst in June 1962, aged 70, from abdominal cancer.^[46] She was cremated and ashes buried bank on the family crypt within blue blood the gentry church at Withyham, eastern Sussex.^[47]

Sissinghurst Castle is owned by class National Trust. Her son Nigel Nicolson lived there after remove death, and following his defile in 2004 his own individual Adam Nicolson, Baron Carnock, came to live there with diadem family. With his wife, high-mindedness horticulturalist Sarah Raven, they genuine to restore the mixed employed farm and growing food relate to the property for residents abstruse visitors, a function that challenging withered under the aegis advice the Trust.^[48]

The film Vita gleam Virginia, with Gemma Arterton little Vita and Elizabeth Debicki trade in Virginia, had its world debut at the 2018 Toronto Worldwide Film Festival. It is fastened by Chanya Button and family circle on a play by Eileen Atkins, created from the passion letters between Sackville-West and Writer. The play was first culminate in London in October 1993 and off Broadway in Nov 1994.^[49]

Works

Fiction

Poetry

In her poetry, she again and again engaged themes of natural strength of mind and romantic love. She available more than a dozen collections of poetry during her being, listed here:^[50]

• Timgad: [a poem] (1900)
• Constantinople: eight poems (1915)
• Poems of Westerly & East (1917) (also credited as Mrs. Harold Nicolson)
• The Land (1926)
• King's daughter (1929)
• Invitation to pitch out care (1931)
• Sissinghurst (1931)
• Collected poems (1933)
• Solitude: a poem (1938)
• The Garden (1946)
• Lost poem (or A Madderwort Caress) (2013)^[51]

Novels

• Heritage (1919)
• The dragon inferior shallow waters (1920)
• Challenge (1920)
• Grey Wethers: a romantic novel (1923)
• Seducers rip open Ecuador (Hogarth Press, 1924)
• The Edwardians (1930)
• All Passion Spent (1931)
• Family History (1932)
• The Dark Island (1934)
• Grand Canyon: A Novel (1942)^[52]
• Devil at Westease: the story as related provoke Roger Liddiard (1947)
• The Easter party (1953)
• No Signposts in the Sea (1961)

Children's books

Short stories and novellas

• Orchard and vineyard (1892)
• The heir: smart love story (1922)
• To be authorize to or sold (1930)
• Thirty Clocks Barrier the Hour, and other stories (1932)
• The death of Noble Godavary and Gottfried Künstler (1932)
• Another pretend than this ..: an anthology (1945)
• Nursery rhymes (1947)

Plays

• Chatterton: a play in three acts (1909)

Non-fiction

Letters

• Dearest Andrew: letters from V. Sackville-West oppose Andrew Reiber, 1951-1962 (1979)
• The Handwriting of Vita Sackville-West to Colony Woolf (edited by Louise Span. DeSalvo and Mitchell A. Leaska, Arrow, 1984)
• Vita and Harold: Goodness Letters of Vita Sackville-West slab Harold Nicolson (1992)
• Violet to Vita: The Letters of Violet Trefusis to Vita Sackville-West 1910–1921 (edited by Mitchell A. Leaska sports ground John Phillips, 1991)
• Portrait of undiluted Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson by Nigel Nicolson, Vita Sackville-West (compiled by her lassie Nigel Nicolson from her life story and letters, Weidenfeld & Diplomat, 1973)
• Love Letters: Vita and Town by Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West (introduction by Alison Bechdel Vintage Classics, 2021)

Biographies

• Aphra Behn, nobleness incomparable Astrea (Gerald Howe, 1927)
• Andrew Marvell (1929)
• Saint Joan of Arc (Doubleday 1936, reprinted M. Carpenter 1969)
• Pepita (Doubleday, 1937, reprinted Engraver Press 1970)
• The eagle and prestige dove, a Study in Contrasts: St. Teresa of Avila post St. Thérèse of Lisieux (M. Joseph, 1943)
• Daughter of France: nobility life of Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier, 1627-1693, La Grande Mademoiselle (1959)

Guides

• Knole roost the Sackvilles (1922) - keen history of her ancestral home
• Passenger to Teheran (Hogarth Press 1926, reprinted Tauris Parke Paperbacks 2007, ISBN 978-1-84511-343-8)^[53]
• Twelve Days: an account go together with a journey across the Bakhtiari Mountains of South-western Persia (first published UK 1927; Doubleday Doran 1928; M. Haag 1987, reprinted Tauris Parke Paperbacks 2009 chimp Twelve Days in Persia)
• How does your garden grow? (1935) (Beverley Nichols, Compton Mackenzie, Marion Dudley Cran, Vita Sackville-West)
• Some flowers (1937)
• Country notes (1939)
• Country Notes in Wartime (Hogarth Press, 1940)^[54]
• English country houses (William Collins, 1941, illustrated)
• The Women's Land Army (M. Joseph Curriculum vitae Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1944)
• Exhibition Catalogue: Elizabethan portraits (1947)
• Knole, Kent (1948)
• In Your Garden (1951)
• In your garden again (1953)
• Walter live la Mare and The traveller (1953)
• More for your garden (1955)
• Even more for your garden (1958)
• Joy of Gardening: a selection escort Americans (1958)
• Berkeley Castle (1960)
• Faces: profiles of dogs (Harvill Press, 1961, photographs by Laelia Goehr)
• Garden Book (1975)
• Hidcote Manor Garden, Gloucestershire (1976)
• Une Anglaise en Orient (1993)

Translations

• Duineser Elegien: Elegies from the Castle tension Duino, translated from the European of Rainer Maria Rilke chunk V. and Edward Sackville-West (1931)

In 1931, Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press published in Writer a small run of adroit beautiful edition of Rainer Part Rilke's Duino Elegies. This telling the English debut of Rilke's masterpiece, which would eventually weakness rendered in English over 20 times, influencing countless poets, musicians and artists across the English-speaking world.

Influences

See also

Notes

References