Nigel Nicolson MBE – författare

The son of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson tells his own story of soldiering, publishing, politics and authorship.Nigel Nicolson grew up in the world of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsberries, one of three sons of the unconventional parents, MP Harold Nicolson and his bisexual wife, the author Vita Sackville-West. In these memoirs he offers a fresh perspective on their marriage as seen from the viewpoint of one of their children, tells how his twenties were, like others of his generation, subsumed by the second world war (he served in the Grenadier Guards in North Africa), and covers his later life as an MP and full-time writer and publisher with great insight and style.

The fascinating story of an unconventional, bisexual and powerfully loving relationship and a unique portrait of gender and feminism - with a new introduction from Juliet Nicolson.'A brilliantly structured account of the dramas, infidelities and deep emotional attachments' GUARDIAN'An intimate and controversial account of his bisexual parents' open relationship' NEW YORK TIMES'One of the most absorbing stories, built around two very remarkable people, ever to stray from Gothic fiction into real life' TLSThe marriage was that between the two writers, Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson and the portrait is drawn partly by Vita herself in an autobiography which she left behind at her death in 1962 and partly by her son, Nigel. It was one of the happiest and strangest marriages there has ever been. Both Vita and Harold were always in love with other people and each gave the other full liberty 'without enquiry or reproach', knowing that their love for each other would be unaffected and even strengthened by the crises which it survived. This account of their love story is now a modern classic.

'You cannot find peace by avoiding life' Virginia WoolfAn intimate portrait of Virginia, the best-known and most influential Bloomsbury author of them all - 'All you need to know about the modernist, feminist icon' TIME OUT'A gem' SUNDAY TIMES'As a short introduction to Virginia Woolf this deceptively brief book could hardly be bettered and achieves high status instantly as a significant work of reference in its own right' THE TIMESVirginia Woolf was undoubtedly one of the literary giants of the twentieth century. She was a central figure in the Bloomsbury Group, and her writings were works of astonishing originality. Nigel Nicolson is the son of Vita Sackville-West, who was Virginia Woolf's most intimate friend, and for a short time her lover. He spent many days in her company and he has threaded his recollections of her throughout this unique narrative of her life.