UNITED KINGDOM AUTHOR · FICTION · HISTORY
Vita Sackville-West
Also known as: V Sackville-West, Sackville-West, V., Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Victoria Sackville-West
Victoria Mary Sackville-West, The Hon Lady Nicolson, best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and poet. Her long narrative poem, The Land, won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927. She won it again, becoming the only writer to do so, in 1933 with her Collected Poems. She helped create her own gardens in Sissinghurst, Kent, which provide the backdrop to Sissinghurst Castle. She was famous for her exuberant aristocratic life, her strong marriage, and her passionate affairs with women, such as novelist Virginia Woolf.
They stared out the window at the bleak, winter-touched garden where the girl walked.
— from The Heir, 2000
Most acclaimed
The letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolfe
2001
After they met in 1922, Vita Sackville-West, a British novelist married to foreign diplomat Harold Nicolson, and Virginia Woolf began a passionate relationship that lasted until Woolf’s death in 1941. Their revealing correspondence leaves no aspect of their lives untouched: daily dramas, bits of gossip, the strains and pleasures of writing, and always the same joy in each other’s company. This volume, which features over 500 letters spanning 19 years, includes the writings of both of these literary icons. DeSalvo and Leaska established the chronological order of the letters and placed them in sequence, and they have also included relevant diary entries and letters Vita and Virginia wrote to other friends where they add context and illumination to the narrative. Annotations throughout the text identify peripheral characters, clarify allusions, and provide background. As the New York Times noted, "the result is a volume that reads like a book, not just a gathering of marvelous scraps." In his introduction Mitchell A. Leaska observes, "Rarely can a collection of correspondence have cast into more dramatic relief two personalities more individual or more complex; and rarely can an enterprise of the heart have been carried out so near the verge of archetypal feeling."
The Heir
2000
(Reid Family #1) The many wondrous gifts of Johanna Lindsey her fiery and endearing characters, her enthralling stories, her ingenious blending of passion, wit, and emotion are all on glorious display in this unforgettable tale about an unwanted title and an unexpected love. Has anyone in London ever taken part in the coming-out season with less enthusiasm than Sabrina? Luckily, the most sought-after lady in the city has agreed to usher this young, lovely country girl through the perils and pitfalls of her all-important first season. Dashing highlander Duncan MacTavish is even less keen to be in London. Having recently learned he is the sole heir of an English marquis, Duncan is now required to assume his grandfather's title and estates and to marry Sabrina's ravishing, viper-tongued guide, who has been heard to make scathing statements in public about her "Scottish barbarian" groom-to-be. His unwanted betrothal, however, has brought Duncan into close proximity with the enchanting Sabrina a kindred spirit whose wit delights him . . . and whose essence is the exquisite stuff of dreams. But duty, station, and a secret that dwells in the lady's past forbid Sabrina's and Duncan's desired union unless true love can somehow miraculously find a way.
Heritage
Cela commence comme une farce, un roman drolatique sur un jeune homme un peu paumé qui, du fait qu'il est toujours en retard à ses rendez-vous, reçoit un héritage dans des circonstances étonnantes. Puis cela se transforme en roman historique, en quête des origines, cela vire ensuite en roman d'amour pudique, et finalement en passionnante leçon de vie. L'histoire suit au plus près l'évolution du personnage principal. Divertissant et très malin, riche en revirements, ce roman est un souffle d'air frais enthousiasmant.