May in Review

It’s pouring with rain in Gloucestershire, and I’m finding it difficult to recollect the heatwave that gripped Britain only a few weeks ago. I’ve been teaching T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets every Wednesday, and I can’t help but identify with his rendering of a world gripped by strange, untimely seasons. As he writes in ‘Little Gidding’ “Where is the summer, the unimaginable/ Zero summer?”

My ‘zero’ summer is being spent on my next book, an exploration of literary gardens from 1850 to the present. It’s not an academic book, but that in turn presents its own challenges. For example, what would be the snazziest title? Garden Plots has already been taken, so I’m toying with something like Planting on the Page or Paradise in Print. Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas in the comments!

In the meantime, the Woolf in the World substack has been galloping along. I started the month with ‘Woolf on Strike’ an exploration of Virginia and Leonard’s response to the General Strike of 1926. Trade Unions are an admittedly unsexy subject, but I felt it was important to draw attention to this aspect of working class history. It was also an opportunity to show the Woolfs in a different light. Much as Leonard and Virginia were bastions of the cultural elite, they were also avid Labour Party members who regularly espoused anti-imperialist, anti-fascist, and feminist views. Their response to the General Strike is just one example of how they had their fingers on the pulse of the political moment. As per usual, I could have written a lot more than a thousand words, but what I did write I greatly enjoyed. Hopefully it was interesting for you too.

Next, was the monthly ‘Woolf on this Day’ post which saw Vita’s return to England, and the tentative rekindling of her and Virginia’s relationship. In one of those rare, (but fairly regular) moments in their love affair, all of Vita’s glamour falls to the floor and Virginia finds her oddly unimpressive. How will these uneven feelings develop? Watch this space to find out!

One of the highlights of my month was going to see The Waves at the Jermyn St Theatre and interviewing the director and playwright for my podcast afterwards. Normally these interviews are promotional exercises, and I admit I was slightly worried about advertising a play with such a short run. As far as I could see, they only had two weeks of shows left, and it was hard to imagine how my listeners would respond when so many of them would be unable to get tickets. In the end, I needn’t have worried. The play was a masterclass in adaptation, and helped me articulate the essence of the novel in a completely different way. This article is well worth looking at if you want to read the novel for the first time or need a fresh way back into it. As for the play itself, it was a resounding success. So much so that they had to extend the run until the end of the month.

Finally, I wrote up some thoughts about Vita’s pearl necklace, an object Virginia routinely pictured as she dwelt on the glamours and pitfalls of privilege and inheritance. Orlando is littered with pearls, and it’s fun to go through the book with this in mind. This article is a must-read if you’re interested in Vita Sackville West or Virginia’s complex thoughts on status and wealth.

In June I’ll be interviewing the director Tina Gharavi about a new film adaptation of Night and Day. I’ll also be working on another episode to commemorate the view from Talland House, and hopefully be further along with my literary gardens project. Until then!