The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Manic Depression and the Life of Virginia Woolf

The author is a retired English psychiatrist who became a Virginia Woolf fan after reading "Mrs Dalloway." For a reader new to Virginia Woolf, this could serve as a pretty good biography of Woolf. It's relatively short, provides a good overview, and would encourage the reader to explore all Virginia Woolf has to offer. For a Virginia Woolf fan, it fills in the gaps, connecting the dots between Virginia's episodes of insanity and depression with events in her life. In addition, Dally does an outstanding job analyzing the romantic and sexual relationships among the Bloomsbury bunch. Dally includes a Stephen family wiring diagram identifying those with mental illness. (Incidentally, of the dozens of books I have on Woolf, Dally's book is the only one I have that has a photograph of Vanessa that reveals a stunningly beautiful woman. Virginia was considered as beautiful, if not more so, but the photographs of Virginia must not do her justice. She is pretty in her younger years, but even so, Vanessa seems stunningly gorgeous.)

The author is a retired English psychiatrist who became a Virginia Woolf fan after reading "Mrs Dalloway." For a reader new to Virginia Woolf, this could serve as a pretty good biography of Woolf. It's relatively short, provides a good overview, and would encourage the reader to explore all Virginia Woolf has to offer. For a Virginia Woolf fan, it fills in the gaps, connecting the dots between Virginia's episodes of insanity and depression with events in her life. In addition, Dally does an outstanding job analyzing the romantic and sexual relationships among the Bloomsbury bunch. Dally includes a Stephen family wiring diagram identifying those with mental illness. (Incidentally, of the dozens of books I have on Woolf, Dally's book is the only one I have that has a photograph of Vanessa that reveals a stunningly beautiful woman. Virginia was considered as beautiful, if not more so, but the photographs of Virginia must not do her justice. She is pretty in her younger years, but even so, Vanessa seems stunningly gorgeous.)