Vita: The Life of Vita Sackville-West

One if the most interesting and well written books I have ever read. I would read it again!!!!!

This book is a window into an era which is not always written about with such thought and understanding. It is a fasinating period of time, and if the events which happened then, happened now, they wouldn't have caused such interest at all. The book is intelligently written and correct in detail. I can recommend it thoroughly.

I chose to read this biography after reading an interview by Victoria Glendinning in the Sunday Times about her garden. Loving gardening as I do I bought this book and have found it to be one of the most interesting books I have read and I do have a library of them. It never went dry and kept me hooked throughout. What an excellent writer

This is a superb biography of a most remarkable woman. It is also a portrait of an aristocratic and intellectual society which seems to have virtually passed away. It ought to be reprinted for the benefit of students and historians let alone the general reader. The extraordinary relationships about which the author writes with sympathy and understanding make it as fascinating as any novel.

This book was rated as good condition but it was poor condition. Very old and worn. I was very disappointed.

I saw the tv series on dvd and became instantly interested in this woman,her life,her family and why she became the woman she did,so what better way to find out about her than her biography.Its written incredibly well and therefore transports you straight into the era it all took place..a brilliant book and well worth a read.

Gave a very readable and interesting account of her life

I might just be somewhat biased but i do not believe that there are many if any, author's todsy who could write with such feeling and conviction on so interesting a subject as this. A truly wonderful and engaging book.Thank you so much Victoria Glendinning.

Glendinning is probably among the best biographers of Vita Sackville-West who was a fascinating character. The writing matches the energy and personality of her subject. It virtually gallops off the pages with a verve that engages the reader and keeps you turning the pages. I sat up all night reading it straight through. Glen dinning is a biographer to envy. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in modern women and their lives. Vita was one of a kind.

I prefer 'portrait of a marriage' better.

An EXCELLENT biography of Vita Sackville-West. Highly recommended! Lots of great photos, too! You'll love reading about Vita's privileged life, her marriage to the homosexual Harold Nicolson, and her love affairs with several remarkable women, including Virginia Woolf.

Our moderns have nothing over these people.

"And to think how the ceilings of Long Barn once swayed above us!"So wrote Vita titillatingly to Virginia Woolf, reminiscing later in life of their love affair. Indeed, if there was anyone who could coax the staid and brilliant Virginia Woolf to passion it was Vita. The very same woman featured as Orlando in Virginia's signature work, a work that epitomizes the dual nature and sexuality of these unique women.Equally important we learn of the open marriage of Vita and her husband Harold Nicolson. Right under the nose of aristocratic Edwardian society, husband and wife carried on their homosexual affairs while maintaining appearances and nurturing a very real life-long love for one another. And yet it was all almost brought down by Vita's torrid affair with Violet Trefusis, a childhood mate turned lover. Yet they raised two boys themselves, surely cementing their marriage wholly. Later when their eldest son came out to his parents, both were encouraging and supportive. Considering the period of time this can only be described as remarkable and far ahead of their times.While the importance of this biography, and of Vita's story, cannot be emphasized enough, I wasn't struck with the sense of adventure and adoration for this as others apparently have been. It's pace was steady, even slow at times. I couldn't consider it a page-turner by any means. Yet a lover of biographies and of this era would find this book an important read. I found though that the author never placed Vita in the context of her era. Tell me how unique she was beside her contemporaries. The author never seemed to take a step back and look at the overall picture.Vita the author and gardener (a big deal in English society) shouldn't be overshadowed by her various proclivities. She was well published and wrote all her life. The gardens and grounds at their home of Sissinghurst is their lasting legacy. Yet while her gardening acumen was made clear, did she weed and plant the gardens herself? Does hiring a gardener, a gardener make you? While the loss of her childhood home Knole hurt her deeply, it wasn't made clear by the author how Vita was any more a victim of inheritance laws than other women. Yet much ado regarding this is made of.Late in the novel I was struck by and truth be told, offended by the author's words. A trip to South Africa was described and the author says: "Conservative though she was, the sight of apartheid in practiced horrified Vita." As a self-described conservative myself, I can assure you apartheid has no place in conservative thought. It has no place in the politics of left, right or any other. This line only serves to expose the author's bias and ignorance.