Rural Hours
The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf,
Sylvia Townsend Warner & Rosamund Lehmann
The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf,
Sylvia Townsend Warner & Rosamund Lehmann
Author: Harriet Baker
Published by: Allen Lane
Pages: 370
Format: Hardback
My Rating: ★★★★★
Published by: Allen Lane
Pages: 370
Format: Hardback
My Rating: ★★★★★
Rural Hours tells the story of three very different women – Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and Rosamund Lehmann – each of whom moved to the country and was forever changed by it.
For all three, rural life began with personal disruption: ill health, a lover, a divorce. Each was stricken with anxiety about her work. But, invigorated by new landscapes and daily rhythms, they began to heal: to embark on experiments in form, in feeling and in living; to discover sexual and political awakening; and, above all, to embrace freedom.
For all three, rural life began with personal disruption: ill health, a lover, a divorce. Each was stricken with anxiety about her work. But, invigorated by new landscapes and daily rhythms, they began to heal: to embark on experiments in form, in feeling and in living; to discover sexual and political awakening; and, above all, to embrace freedom.
My thoughts:
This book was quite unlike anything I’ve read before. It is a meditative and beautifully observed group biography; focusing on three pioneering writers: Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend and Rosamund Lehmann. It tells the story of these three very different women, each of whom moved to the country and were forever changed by it.
Going into the book I was initially most interested in reading about Virginia Woolf, and I loved how this book specifically focused on looking at how her various spells living in the countryside influenced her writing and creativity. But I also love the way the book weaves very well researched fact with imagination and vivid descriptions of the landscape which bring the book and its subjects to life.
These women were from privileged backgrounds, but each embarks on a new life due to illness, death, or the loss of a marriage. Due to these difficulties, as readers we see these women at their purest and most vulnerable. Each of the writers are vividly drawn in the particularities of her own surroundings, her own difficulties and joys. They learn how to fit into local communities, even when at first, they struggle to understand the boring chatter of everyday people who are too exhausted at the end of a long day's work to discuss literature or politics.
Baker’s writing is wonderful, her prose is warm, eloquent, perceptive and moving. She so clearly captures that elusive sense of place alongside the realities of rural living, urban discontentment, mental health, relationships, and political awakening through a thoughtful balance of diary entries, description, facts and wider context.
Full of fresh insights and lively prose, Rural Hours makes clear the connection between creativity and place. It is a superb read, enhanced by quirky photographs. I couldn’t put this one down and feel sure that I will return to Rural Hours again and again. A perfect summer read.
Overall reaction:
This book was quite unlike anything I’ve read before. It is a meditative and beautifully observed group biography; focusing on three pioneering writers: Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend and Rosamund Lehmann. It tells the story of these three very different women, each of whom moved to the country and were forever changed by it.
Going into the book I was initially most interested in reading about Virginia Woolf, and I loved how this book specifically focused on looking at how her various spells living in the countryside influenced her writing and creativity. But I also love the way the book weaves very well researched fact with imagination and vivid descriptions of the landscape which bring the book and its subjects to life.
These women were from privileged backgrounds, but each embarks on a new life due to illness, death, or the loss of a marriage. Due to these difficulties, as readers we see these women at their purest and most vulnerable. Each of the writers are vividly drawn in the particularities of her own surroundings, her own difficulties and joys. They learn how to fit into local communities, even when at first, they struggle to understand the boring chatter of everyday people who are too exhausted at the end of a long day's work to discuss literature or politics.
Baker’s writing is wonderful, her prose is warm, eloquent, perceptive and moving. She so clearly captures that elusive sense of place alongside the realities of rural living, urban discontentment, mental health, relationships, and political awakening through a thoughtful balance of diary entries, description, facts and wider context.
Full of fresh insights and lively prose, Rural Hours makes clear the connection between creativity and place. It is a superb read, enhanced by quirky photographs. I couldn’t put this one down and feel sure that I will return to Rural Hours again and again. A perfect summer read.
Overall reaction: