Afterwords

Sybil Oldfield is Research Reader in English at the University of Sussex. She is the author of Spinsters of This Parish: The Life and Times of Mary Sheepshanks and F. M. Mayor (Virago Original, 1984), Women Against the Iron Fist - Alternatives to Militarism 1900-1989 (Blackwell, 1991) and British Women Humanitarians, 1900-1950 (Continuum, 2001).

A most unusual book which gives an unusually intimate insight into the attitudes of the period. Offering unusual and privileged perspectives, this volume expands our sense of [Woolf's] life. With this volume Sybil Oldfield has given us an incredibly rich and invaluable resource ... The extent of the research has been vast and the potted biographical notes on the correspondents, as well as their letters, will be appreciated and used by scholars for years to come. ! These letters are a moving and poignant emotional snapshot of a most significant moment in English literary history. What a compelling story! Sybil Oldfield's deft editing and delightfully informative notes allow the reader to watch the drama of Virginia Woolf's death play out without the least bit of ghoulishness. It is actually liberating to find that she was mourned so deeply as a passionate friend and a major public intellectual both by her friends and by masses of common readers, political comrades of the Labour Party left, pacifists and feminists. Virginia Woolf would have made a novel out of these condolence letters. Sybil Oldfield has made a fast-paced and gripping drama. -- Jane Marcus, author of Hearts of Darkness Written in the darkest days of World War II, these moving letters eloquently testify to the surprising breadth of Virginia Woolf's literary and personal appeal. As a whole, the correspondence is a unique contribution to British cultural history. -- Mark Hussey, General Editor, Harcourt Annotated Works of Virginia Woolf ...the letters are remarkably moving...Oldfield has researched the authors and provides fascinating background detail, and this brings emotional relief between letters. Virginia Woolf Miscellany A most unusual book which gives an unusually intimate insight into the attitudes of the period. Offering unusual and privileged perspectives, this volume expands our sense of [Woolf's] life. With this volume Sybil Oldfield has given us an incredibly rich and invaluable resource ... The extent of the research has been vast and the potted biographical notes on the correspondents, as well as their letters, will be appreciated and used by scholars for years to come. ! These letters are a moving and poignant emotional snapshot of a most significant moment in English literary history. What a compelling story! Sybil Oldfield's deft editing and delightfully informative notes allow the reader to watch the drama of Virginia Woolf's death play out without the least bit of ghoulishness. It is actually liberating to find that she was mourned so deeply as a passionate friend and a major public intellectual both by her friends and by masses of common readers, political comrades of the Labour Party left, pacifists and feminists. Virginia Woolf would have made a novel out of these condolence letters. Sybil Oldfield has made a fast-paced and gripping drama. Written in the darkest days of World War II, these moving letters eloquently testify to the surprising breadth of Virginia Woolf's literary and personal appeal. As a whole, the correspondence is a unique contribution to British cultural history. ...the letters are remarkably moving...Oldfield has researched the authors and provides fascinating background detail, and this brings emotional relief between letters.