Vanessa and Her Sister (47 page)

VIRGINIA AND LEONARD WOOLF

Lytton Strachey did begin suggesting that Leonard Woolf marry Virginia Stephen as early as the spring of 1909. Leonard Woolf and Virginia Stephen
became engaged in the summer of 1912 and married that August. Like Vanessa, Virginia refused two proposals before she said yes.

Virginia Woolf published her first novel,
The Voyage Out
, in March 1915. The same year, she and Leonard moved to Hogarth House in Richmond and later founded the Hogarth Press, which published all but one of Virginia Woolf’s subsequent novels, each with a cover designed by Vanessa Bell.

When Virginia committed suicide in 1941, she left two letters, one for Vanessa and one for Leonard. She wrote to Leonard, “I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been.”

VANESSA BELL

Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant lived in a partnership defined by painting and friendship until her death in April 1961. They moved between various houses in Bloomsbury and Charleston, her farmhouse in Sussex. Virginia and Leonard Woolf settled at Monk’s House in nearby Rodmell.

Vanessa Bell never forgave her sister for the liaison with Clive. Years later her daughter, Angelica, remembers the wariness with which her mother treated her aunt, Virginia. And from Virginia, Angelica always sensed “a desperate plea for forgiveness.”

Vanessa Bell’s paintings now hang in museums all over the world.

· ·

I
T IS NOT EASY
to fictionalise the Bloomsbury Group, as their lives are so well documented. They were prolific correspondents and diarists, and there is a wealth of existing primary material. For me the difficulty came in finding enough room for invention in the negative spaces they left behind. The characters in the novel are very much fictional creations. The broad external chronologies and events are as accurate as possible, with the exception of a few small adjustments and alterations I made to better tell the story.

Vanessa and Clive’s second child was initially named Gratian and then for a period of time was renamed Claudian before he was ultimately called Quentin some time after his first birthday. I call him Quentin for the sake of clarity. Many of Vanessa Bell’s early paintings were destroyed in a fire at her studio. Apart from
Nursery Tea, Studland Beach, Iceland Poppies
, the sketches of Julian, and the portraits of Virginia, the paintings I describe are fictional but are based upon descriptions in her many letters and are subjects and themes she would return to in her work throughout her life. The internal landscapes of the characters are completely imagined and Vanessa Bell never kept a diary.

Many of the unlikelier details in the novel are rooted in fact. Virginia did appal her family by requesting a valuable table from Violet. Virginia also did write to Violet for weeks after Thoby died, outlining the various stages of his fictional recovery. Violet did in fact learn of Thoby’s death from the newspaper. Virginia, Duncan, and Adrian did dress up as the entourage of the Emperor of Abyssinia and tour the
Dreadnought.
Vanessa did lose her engagement ring down a well just before she began an affair with Roger Fry.

The choreography of the complicated romantic lives of the characters as much as possible follows the historical template. And remarkably, within the group, they all remained close friends. Duncan did have love affairs with Lytton, Maynard, Adrian, and finally Vanessa. Maynard and Lytton also had an early affair. Roger and Ottoline had a brief liaison just before he left for Constantinople. Clive did rekindle his affair with Mrs Raven Hill and simultaneously pursue his sister-in-law in the same year. And Vanessa wrote amicably to Clive in 1909 and cheerfully referred to Mrs Raven Hill as “your whore.” Virginia and Clive did write suggestive, flirtatious letters alluding to their affair for several years after the family trip to Cornwall in 1908. Judging from their letters, it is likely that, although Clive clearly would have preferred it otherwise, the affair remained platonic.

I took one important detour from recorded history with the argument
between Vanessa and Virginia over the affair with Clive. We do not know whether it was ever mentioned between them, and Vanessa never referred to the liaison in her letters. However, in 1925, Virginia Woolf wrote, “My affair with Clive and Nessa turned more of a knife in me than anything else has ever done.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I
would like to particularly thank:

Kaleem Aftab, Olivier Bell, Sarah Blake, Judy Clain, Darren Clarke, Eve Ensler, Sophie Deveson Sarah Hall, Emma Healey, Lisa Highton, Nancy Horan, Howie Kahn, Jainee McCarroll, Paula McLain, Naomi Nicholson, Zahra Moussavi, Sharon Kay Penman, Matt Pycha, Katy Raffin, Tamar Rydzinski, Noah Sher, Dr. Roger Savage, Helen Simonson, and, especially, Trish Todd, who made everything happen.

Virginia Nicholson for her invaluable help and kindness. For taking me to Charleston and sharing her Bloomsbury memories. For being so gracious, supportive, and lovely.

My extraordinary, extraordinary agent, Stephanie Cabot, who has made this book so happy. Rebecca Gardner, Anna Worrall, Ellen Goodson, and everyone at the Gernert Company.

Susanna Porter, my magical editor who, with huge perception and unfailing sensitivity, found the story inside the manuscript. And Priyanka Krishnan for helping me at every turn.

Barbara Bachman, Gina Centrello, Susan Corcoran, Kristin Fassler, Jennifer Garza, Jennifer Hershey, Kim Hovey, Vincent La Scala, Libby McGuire, Nicole Morano, Quinne Rogers, Robbin Schiff, and everyone at Ballantine/Random House who have taken such beautiful care of this book.

Helen Garnons Williams for her deft, kind wisdom and humor, Ros
Ellis, Elizabeth Woabank, Lynsey Sutherland, Oliver Holden-Rea, and everyone at Bloomsbury UK for their wonderful care.

Kristin Cochrane for her brilliant notes and fantastic support, Louise Dennys, Brad Martin, and everyone at Random House Canada who have given this book such a wonderful home there.

The staffs of The Charleston, The British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, and Tate Britain who have been so helpful and kind.

And thank you to my dear friends who have rooted for me all along.

In London: Dan, Ewen, Jamie, Burt, Harriet, Charlotte, Alec, Ben, Sophie, Max, Minnie, Alex, Katie, Oliver, Kate, Tim, and Sam. And especially Sadie, Katy, Adriana, Simon, Felix, Jack, Jessica, Poppy, and my godchildren, Louis and Logan. You make London home.

In Hawaii: the beloved Smarts, Tora and Kirk; Denise, Ash, and Cliff; Lisa and David; Melissa and Neal; Denise T., Jane, Michelle, and Megan; Chris and Koah; Matt and Naomi; the dearest Garfinkles: Terri and Benjy; Matt and Angela for thirty years of friendship; and Wendy and Chad for being my hanai family.

And the kids who are no longer kids. For the years and the flowers and the song and for making everything mean more. Amber, Chloe, Eli, Koa, Leila, Max, and Wyatt.

Philippa Gregory and Anthony Mason. For their astonishing, unwavering kindness and bolstering wisdom. For their rare, true friendship.

And to my family: my stepdaughters, Madison and Ava; my nephew Wyatt; my new siblings, Meredith and JD; and my brother and sister, Nicky and Tina, who are my watermarks. For a million things every day, thank you.

To my mother, who read every draft, and my father, who believed in me. You both are woven into every word I will ever write. I love you.

And with all my love to Brennon. For being my home.

BY PRIYA PARMAR

Vanessa and Her Sister

Exit the Actress

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Educated at Mount Holyoke College, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Oxford, P
RIYA
P
ARMAR
is the author of one previous novel,
Exit the Actress
. She divides her time between Hawaii and London.

www.priyaparmar.com