About this item
Orlando, novel by Virginia Woolf, published in 1928. The fanciful biographical novel pays homage to the family of Woolf's friend Vita Sackville-West from the time of her ancestor Thomas Sackville (1536-1608) to the family's country estate at Knole. The manuscript of the book, a present from Woolf to Sackville-West, is housed at Knole. The novel opens in 1588. Young Orlando, a 16-year-old boy, writes a poem called "The Oak Tree." He finds favour at the Elizabethan court and love in the arms of a Russian princess. A garrulous poet, Sir Nicholas Greene (said to be modeled on Sir Edmund Gosse) , discusses literature with him. During the reign of Charles II (1660-85) , Orlando is named ambassador to Constantinople and is rewarded with a dukedom.
About the Author
(Adeline) Virginia Woolf was an English novelist and essayist regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include the novels (1927) , and (1928) , and the book-length essay (1929) with its famous dictum, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. "
