Friday 20 November 2009

The Unspoken Truth. . .


Bloomsbury fans will be interested in an upcoming work of fiction by Virginia Woolf's niece, Angelica Garnett who is still alive and in her nineties. I've had a chance to read an advance galley of The Unspoken Truth (out in the U.K. in January and in Canada in February) and while I don't want to write too much about it until it's published, I can say that it seems very autobiographical and is painfully moving to read - rather beautifully so. It's a collection of four stories all revolving around artists - one in particular told from a child's point of view. I read her memoir Deceived With Kindness a number of years ago (which I also recommend) and there are very similar themes between the two books. It also reminded me very much of A.S. Byatt's recent novel A Children's Book, in its depiction of the unhappiness and sometimes damage inflicted on children by a boheminan and artistic lifestyle. I shall be very interested to see the press coverage on this in the new year, and also the reaction of Woolf scholars. I'm also looking forward to seeing the physical book itself - it certainly has a very beautiful cover.

4 comments:

Bloomsbury Bell said...

This is really exciting! Thanks for flagging it up, I am going to see if I can pre-order a copy right now!

StuckInABook said...

I loved Deceived with Kindness, and I'm looking forward to this - though fiction, it must be one of the last influenced by firsthand contact with the Bloomsbury Group.

Blithe Spirit said...

Yes, it won't be difficult to "identify" her fictional characters and many of the same themes and preoccupations in her memoir show up in her fiction. I think maybe she's been occupied or haunted by her childhood all her life - I hope there will be some good press when the book comes out and hopefully some interviews with her.

Lulu said...

This has completley p[assed me by - thank you for bringing it to my attention. I loved The Children's Book, and will go and look this up right away!