In 1933 Virginia Woolf published a lighthearted book that tells its story from a dog’s perspective. Flush, the dog, tells his story intertwined with the love story of Robert Browning and his wife, Elizabeth. It’s complete with horrid maids, bullying fellow dogs, mysterious illnesses, and clandestine romance. [1]
Virginia Stephen and Leonard Woolf were married on 10 August 1912 at the St Pancras Register Office following a six-month courtship, during which Leonard proposed numerous times.
Virginia and Leonard first met at Trinity College in Cambridge when she visited her brother around the year 1900. A smart and beautiful young woman she had many suitors and admirers, both male and female, so it was no surprise that Leonard was also drawn to her. But it wasn’t until two years later when Leonard returned to England that they met again. Virginia had received proposals from other men before she met Leonard.
Virginia and Leonard spent their wedding night at their rented house in East Sussex, before traveling to France, Spain and Italy. During the honeymoon, Leonard discovered Virginia’s dislike of sex, which they both blamed on her sexual abuse as a child. The couple hoped to have children, but shortly after the wedding, they were heartbroken when her doctors advised her to refrain from motherhood on account of her ongoing mental health issues.
After her marriage, Virginia continued to have many affairs with women, the most notable being Vita Sackville-West. The couple met in 1922 when Woolf was 40 and Sackville-West a decade her junior. The two of them remained lovers for a decade and stayed close friends for the rest of Woolf’s life.
After a lifetime troubled by deep depression, Virginia Woolf died by suicide aged 59 in 1941 and Leonard Woolf died in 1969 from a stroke.
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