Who is Vita Sackville-West
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Vita: A Remarkable Woman
I have been fascinated by Vita Sackville-West for nearly two decades. This woman was so many extraordinary things: author, biographer, poet, correspondent, wife, mother, lover, aristocrat, gardener and so much more. And she did each with such passion that she could have been famous just for any one of these! Yet she was completely all of these-- such a multi-layered person.
Three Fascinating Things About Vita Sackville-West
Vita had passionate, obsessive relationships with her female lovers. And Vita had a fiercely loyal and loving relationship with her husband. At the same time.Vita was a prolific author, writing everything from poetry and biographies to bestselling novels-- even a long-running gardening column in The Observer. Vita is the only person ever to win the Hawthornden Prize for Poetry twice, and in 1946 was made a Companion of Honour for her contributions to English literature.
Vita and her husband Harold Nicolson created beautiful and original gardens at their home, Sissinghurst Castle. Sissinghurst Garden is now among the most famous and visited gardens in the world.
Marvellous essay about falling in love with Vita and her work
Vita and her passions
Here is someone who understands how I feel about Vita Sackville-West! This essay is by author Barbara Samuel, found on her blog A Writer Afoot. Once you begin to learn about Vita, you only want more and more!
(Photo taken in Sissinghurst garden, by Barbara Samuel).
These are the tiles that spell out Vita's name on the staircase in the tower at Sissinghurst (mentioned in the essay above).
(Picture courtesy of Phillysound2).
Vita's Desk, Sissinghurst Tower
"A flowerless room is a soulless room, to my way of thinking; but
even one solitary little vase of a living flower may redeem it."
Vita Sackville-West
even one solitary little vase of a living flower may redeem it."
Vita Sackville-West
Online Bibliographies
Vita was a prolific writer throughout her life, and her writings were incredibly diverse: everything from biographies to novels, from non-fiction to (one) science-fantasy, poetry, travelogues, gardening books, weekly newspaper columns, and her famous correspondence!
"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How
else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?"
Vita Sackville-West, Twelve Days, 1928.
Below are several different bibliographies for Vita-- if ever any writer needed a bibliography to keep her copious works straight, it is certainly she!
"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How
else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?"
Vita Sackville-West, Twelve Days, 1928.
Below are several different bibliographies for Vita-- if ever any writer needed a bibliography to keep her copious works straight, it is certainly she!
- Vita's works by genre
- An excellent bibliography by Suellen Cox, Head of Instruction and Information Services, Pollak Library, California State University Fullerton. Breaks Vita's works down by genre; also lists works about Vita.
- Knitting Circle Vita Sackville-West
- Vita Sackville-West Bibliography and short bio.
- Bibliography of books by or about Vita and/or Violet
- Phillysound2's book reviews on Amazon serve as a wonderful bibliography for learning about the affair between Vita and Violet Keppel Trefusis, and the impact it had on their lives. The reviewer explains what each book she reviews can teach you about different perspectives on the relationship. Phillysound2 has written well thought-out reviews on a multitude of books either by or about Vita and/or Violet.
An older Vita at her desk
Vita Sackville-West: A Bibliography
Wouldn't I love to have this!From the publisher: One of the most controversial authors of this century and a well known feminist, Vita Sackville-West, has acquired fame as a writer and devoted gardener. This is the most comprehensive bibliography on Sackville-West, which encompasses the great diversity of her writings which includes novels, such as The Edwardians and All Passion Spent and biographies like Pepita, which was about her grandmother who was a Spanish dancer. Along with the aforementioned novels and biographies, the authors have listed 61 books and pamphlets, 50 contributions to books, her published letters, 170 appearances in anthologies, 1,176 articles, short stories and poems, 366 broadcasts and 170 programs using her works.
Sackville-West's fame as a poet rests on her two masterpieces, The Land and The Garden. Here she combines her two great loves, gardening and writing. Her garden at Sissinghurst Castle is an artistic triumph attracting over 400,000 visitors a year.
This work has a beautifully written foreword by Nigel Nicolson, Sackville-West's son and author of Portrait of a Marriage. In it he states that this work, "is a literary biography . . . indefatigable research . . . an essential tool for librarians, booksellers, collectors, literary historians and many others."
Selected Writings
For years I thought I didn't need to read this book; I had so many of Vita's works that I thought it would only be redundant. I was so wrong! There are many previously-unpublished bits, and author Mary Ann Caws does a great job of comparing and juxtaposing Vita's writings from all the many genres in which she wrote. A valuable resource!
Novels by Vita Sackville-West
Vita's novels were critical and popular best-sellers in England and abroad. During her lifetime, she was more successful in her writing career than the most famous of her lovers, Virginia Woolf.
Vita in her study
Poetry by Vita Sackville-West
Vita was the only writer ever to win the prestigious Hawthornden Prize twice, first for her long narrative poem, The Land, in 1927, and again in 1933 with her Collected Poems.
Vita reading from her epic poem The Land
Biographies by Vita Sackville-West
Travel and/or Non-fiction Works by Vita Sackville-West
Correspondence: so many letters!
Her correspondence is my favorite reading. It was in reading Vita's letters to Harold (her 'Hadji') that I really felt I got to know her.
Portrait of a Marriage
After Vita died, her son Nigel Nicolson (pictured, right) found a locked case in her rooms that contained Vita's account of her affair many years earlier with Violet Keppel Trefusis.In deference to his father, Nigel debated whether or not to make the story public. However, Nigel explains, "The conviction grew in me that she wanted her memoir to be published. She could have destroyed it. It presumed an audience."
He eventually did publish it, several years after Harold's death. Nicolson titled the book as he did because, in his words, "I added my own commentary, both on the affair and the later years of Vita's marriage until passion was (almost) spent, making it clear that having survived the crisis, their marriage, though physically aborted after the birth of their sons, was one of great happiness to both. I called the book Portrait of a Marriage, not, as Vita's contribution alone would have suggested, Portrait of an Affair, in order to clarify my motive."
Their Letters
Vita and Harold's marriage, while unorthodox and at times tested nearly to the limit, remained a strong and enduring bond in their lives for almost fifty years. Their relationship is chronicled through thousands of letters to each other, again lovingly assembled by their son, Nigel Nicolson. The love of "Mar" and "Hadji', as Vita and Harold called each other, is constantly palpable, even as they talked openly of her "muddles" and his affairs. Highly recommended and fascinating reading!
Portrait of a Marriage, dramatized by the BBC
Nigel Nicolson may not have been entirely thrilled with the BBC's interpretation of his book about his parents, but Janet McTeer's depiction of Vita Sackville-West was incredible, and the story pulls you along. Watching it, you feel as torn as Vita did. An amazing series.
Video Clips from Portrait of a Marriage
In the 1990s the BBC dramatized Nigel Nicolson's 1973 book about his parents' relationship, Portrait of a Marriage.
This is how I was first introduced to Vita, although I have gone on to read almost anything and everything by her or about her!
This is how I was first introduced to Vita, although I have gone on to read almost anything and everything by her or about her!
curated content from YouTube
The 'Grand Passion' 1918-1921
- The Antigonish Review
- In name, a review of the book ''Violet to Vita: The Letters of Violet Trefusis to Vita Sackville- West,'' but actually a very detailed overview of Violet and Vita's affair.
- Wikipedia: Violet Trefusis
- Surprisingly, Wikipedia has a very good, concise overview of the years of Vita and Violet's affair. This link goes directly to that section.
Vita and Violet Books
Portrait of a Marriage is as much about Vita and Violet as is is about Vita and Harold. The others here may be biographies of Violet Keppel Trefusis (right), but they go deeply into Violet's affair with Vita.
Fictionalized Accounts of Vita and Violet's Affair...
... by Vita and Violet (and Virginia)
Both Vita and Violet were prolific writers, and each wrote her own fictionalized version of their story. The major difference: Vita's "Challenge" was written during the affair, and is serious, romantic and dangerous, while Violet's "Broderie Anglaise" was written after the break-up, and is, as Amazon reviewer Phillysound2 puts it, a "delicious, gently malicious book."
The third fictionalized depiction of the affair is as a section of Orlando, Virginia Woolf's "love letter to Vita." Orlando represents Vita, while Princess Sasha is Violet.
The third fictionalized depiction of the affair is as a section of Orlando, Virginia Woolf's "love letter to Vita." Orlando represents Vita, while Princess Sasha is Violet.
Biographies of Vita Sackville-West
Orlando: A Biography
Virginia Woolf's "love letter to Vita"
Virginia Woolf, the Bloomsbury writer and critic, was another of Vita's lovers. Woolf understood Vita, and what made Vita as she was. This fantastical "biography" depicts Orlando (Vita) as a young, impulsive poet whose life is deeply entwined with that of his family house (Knole). The story travels through time, beginning with the days of Elizabeth I, and ending in the 1920s. Over the timeline of the story, Orlando morphs from an impetuous young man to a married woman (echoing Vita's own story).
Orlando: A Biography
Photographs of Vita in various costumes served as the illustrations to the first editions of the
novel Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf.
Illustrations in the First Editions of Orlando: A Biography
novel Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf.
Illustrations in the First Editions of Orlando: A Biography
Orlando Criticism and Analysis
- Orlando: A Biography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Orlando is a novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on 11 October 1928. It is generally considered one of the most accessible novels by Virginia Woolf, and is one of the most influential books written by a female author, mixing fiction with biography.
- Journal of Modern Literature, Summer 2006
- Situating Orlando within a matrix of biographical, cultural, and literary concerns, this essay contends that Virginia Woolf 's peculiar and fantastical "biography" of Vita Sackville-West effects a double compensation. By attending to the tensions between the real and the fictional/fantastic and the public and private, I suggest that the text restores lost loves and lost objects to both Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf....
- Literary Encyclopedia: Orlando: A Biography
- Full of complexity, strangeness and subversive humour, Orlando asks important questions about the nature of genre, gender, sexuality, society and history. It is also very funny. Orlando is "inspired" by the life of Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962). The novel is dedicated to her and she appears in three of its illustrations ("Orlando on her Return to England", "Orlando About the Year 1840" and "Orlando at the Present Time")....
Orlando the Film
The film Orlando might not have been the best film ever, but I like to watch it thinking of it as a Virginia's true vision of Vita. Also, I see some of Vita in Tilda Swinton's haughtiness.
British filmmaker Sally Potter made the film adaptation of Woolf's novel in 1993. While it follows some of the contours of Woolf's novel, it is in fact a further contemplation of the novel rather than an adaptation of it. Think of it as the analogue to a piece of music that is a "variation on a theme," rather than a filmed version of the novel. Nevertheless, the film is worth watching even though it does not replace reading the book, which is much funnier. (Paraphrased from Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography (1928), by Professor Catherine Lavender, The Department of History, The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York).
British filmmaker Sally Potter made the film adaptation of Woolf's novel in 1993. While it follows some of the contours of Woolf's novel, it is in fact a further contemplation of the novel rather than an adaptation of it. Think of it as the analogue to a piece of music that is a "variation on a theme," rather than a filmed version of the novel. Nevertheless, the film is worth watching even though it does not replace reading the book, which is much funnier. (Paraphrased from Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography (1928), by Professor Catherine Lavender, The Department of History, The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York).
Clips from the 1992 film version of Orlando
While watching, remember Orlando is Vita; Princess Sasha is Violet.
curated content from YouTube
Vita and Virginia Woolf
Vita's affair with Virginia Woolf (right) was perhaps her second-most famous extra-marital liasion.
- Virginia and Vita: Explorations of their relationship viewed through the novel of Virginia Woolf's Orlando
- It has been said the novel Orlando is the longest love-letter ever written; a celebration of the bond between women. The relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West....
- Virginia and Vita
- Virginia to Vita (9 Oct 1927): You know that bloody book which Dadie and Leonard extort, drop by drop, from my breast? Fiction, or some title to that effect [Phases of Fiction]. I couldn't screw a word from me; and at last dropped my head in my hands:
dipped my pen in the ink, and wrote these words, as if automatically, on a clean sheet: Orlando: A Biography. No sooner had I done this than my body was flooded with rapture and my brain with ideas.... But listen; suppose Orlando turns out to be Vita; and its all about you and the lusts of your flesh and the lure of your heart.... - Vita & Virginia-- Two Reviews
- Two marvellous-- and very different-- reviews of "Vita and Virginia" by playwright Eileen Atkins. Both explain Vita and Virginia's relationship, and their differences.
- THEATER REVIEW; Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Atkins Bring 20 Years of Letters to Life
- "Vita and Virginia". . . has two fascinating characters, the British writers Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf. It has two superb actresses, Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Atkins, to portray them. And it has a wealth of material to draw upon: the letters, prickly with intelligence and passion, that the women exchanged for some 20 years, beginning in the early 1920's, when Vita first took a fancy to the older author.
- Woolf in the World: A Pen and a Press of Her Own: Orlando
- A wonderful link on Orlando showing the proof where Virginia struggles with how to address Vita in her dedication, and one of the book's illustrations: Orlando on her return to England (actually a portrait of Vita at the time she won the Hawthornden prize).
Virginia Woolf's Description of Vita
Originally I had posted only a link to this quote from Virginia Woolf's diary (21 December 1925), but her description of Vita begs a full write-up here:Vita for three days at Long Barn, from which Leonard and I returned yesterday. These Sapphists love women; friendship is never untinged with amorosity. In short, my fears and refrainings, my 'impertinence,' my usual self-consciousness in intercourse with people who mayn't want me and so on--were all, as L. said, sheer fudge; and partly thanks to him (he made me write) I wound up this wounded and stricken year in great style. I like her and being with her and the splendour--she shines in the grocer's shop in Sevenoaks with a candle lit radiance, stalking on legs like beech trees, pink glowing, grape clustered, pearl hung. That is the secret of her glamour, I suppose. Anyhow she found me incredibly dowdy. No woman cared less for personal appearance. No one put on things in the way I did. Yet so beautiful, etc. What is the effect of all this on me? Very mixed. There is her maturity and full breastedness; her being so much in full sail on the high tides, where I am coasting down backwaters; her capacity I mean to take the floor in any company, to represent her country, to visit Chatsworth to control silver, servants, chow dogs; her motherhood (but she is a little cold and off-hand with her boys); her being in short (what I have never been) a real woman. Then there is some voluptuousness about her; the grapes are ripe; and not reflective. No. In brain and insight she is not as highly organised as I am. But then she is aware of this and so lavishes on me the maternal protection which, for some reason, is what I have always most wished from everyone. What L. gives me, and Nessa gives me and Vita, in her more clumsy external way, tries to give me. For of course, mingled with all this glamour, grape clusters and pearl necklaces, there is something loose fitting. How much, for example, shall I really miss her when she is motoring across the desert?"
Vita and Virginia Books
Vita's Homes
The homes that Vita lived in throughout her life were a part of her, and she of them.
Knole House
Vita grew up at Knole House (the largest private home in England), with all its privilege and splendor. The family lost Knole temporarily due to legal wranglings by distant relations, but at last won the legal battle and triumphantly returned. In the end, though, Knole House was lost to Vita due to her gender. When her father died, Vita could not inherit because she was a woman. Knole and the ultimate loss of the home she loved shaped Vita's life.
Long Barn
Long Barn, the home she and Harold shared early in their marriage, was the place where the gardener in Vita came to life. She and Harold worked out their gardening styles (and early gardening mistakes) here. Their friend Edward Luytens helped in the design of the garden at Long Barn.
Sissinghurst
Finally Sissinghurst! The crumbling Elizabethan manor house that Vita and her son Nigel found on a rainy day in 1930 was to be the family's home for the rest of Vita's life. She wrote from her rooms in the brick tower, and the family lived in the various parts of the estate that were intact. Although the family had residences in London at various points, Vita could never stray far from Sissinghurst, the fabulous gardens that she and Harold created there, and the English countryside she loved so well.
Knole House
Vita grew up at Knole House (the largest private home in England), with all its privilege and splendor. The family lost Knole temporarily due to legal wranglings by distant relations, but at last won the legal battle and triumphantly returned. In the end, though, Knole House was lost to Vita due to her gender. When her father died, Vita could not inherit because she was a woman. Knole and the ultimate loss of the home she loved shaped Vita's life.
Long Barn
Long Barn, the home she and Harold shared early in their marriage, was the place where the gardener in Vita came to life. She and Harold worked out their gardening styles (and early gardening mistakes) here. Their friend Edward Luytens helped in the design of the garden at Long Barn.
SissinghurstFinally Sissinghurst! The crumbling Elizabethan manor house that Vita and her son Nigel found on a rainy day in 1930 was to be the family's home for the rest of Vita's life. She wrote from her rooms in the brick tower, and the family lived in the various parts of the estate that were intact. Although the family had residences in London at various points, Vita could never stray far from Sissinghurst, the fabulous gardens that she and Harold created there, and the English countryside she loved so well.
Vita's Homes
A smattering of links and information on Knole, Long Barn, and Sissinghurst.
- English Stately Homes - Knole House
- The Heritage Trail, Stately Homes & Country Houses of England and the British Isles
- National Trust | Knole
- One of the great treasure houses of England set in a magnificent deer park. Has a superb collection of C17th Stuart furniture, tapestries, textiles & portraits. Birthplace of novelist and poet Vita Sackville-West.
- Knole House - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Details of Knole House from Wikipedia.
- English Manor Houses - Sissinghurst Castle
- Sissinghurst Castle - The Heritage Trail, manor houses of England and the British Isles
- National Trust | Sissinghurst Castle Garden
- One of the world's most celebrated gardens, the creation of Vita Sackville-West and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson.
- Botanic Garden of Smith College: Knole-Sissinghurst
- Knole, ancestral home of the Sackvilles, where Vita Sackville-West was born. Woolf used it as the setting for her novel Orlando, whose main character is based on Vita Sackville-West....
Sissinghurst Today
Although owned by the National Trust and open to visitors, the estate is still inhabited by the Nicolson family-- Vita's granddaughter (Nigel's daughter), author Juliet Nicolson, lives there, sleeping in her grandmother's bedroom and writing in her grandfather's study.At Home in a Bloomsbury Fantasy: New York Times
Sissnghurst Today
- Tension at Sissinghurst as Poirot meets River Cottage | Opinion | The First Post
- "Am I going mad? Don't answer that. Merely clarify one thing. Is BBC4's new Sunday night show Sissinghurst a fly-on-the wall docu-series about the various ways in which the National Trust resists the pressure for Vita Sackville West's beloved Kentish castle and gardens to be hauled into River Cottage-ville with their own sustainable veg plot and sheep farm?"
- The past has gone - so bury it - Telegraph
- Instead of re-creating great gardens of former years, we should look to the future, argues Tim Richardson.
"I think I can guess what Sackville-West's management plan would be, were she to come back today: she would rip it up - tea rooms, shop, interpretation centre and all. She would have hated it." - 'Powerfully evocative' family history wins Ondaatje prize
- Adam Nicolson takes award for Sissinghurst, an Unfinished History a memoir of his family's ancestral home.
New from Vita's grandson, Adam Nicolson
Sissinghurst, An Unfinished History: The Quest to Restore a Working Farm at Vita Sackville-West's Legendary Garden
Amazon Price: $4.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
Tour Sissinghurst on DVD!
Guides to Knole and Sissinghurst
Writings about her homes and her family
Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles
This new book from Robert Sackville-West
Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 02/17/2012)
Gardening and Garden Writing
"Every garden-maker should be an artist along his own lines. That is the only possible way to create a garden, irespective of size or wealth."
Vita Sackville-West
Vita and her husband Harold Nicolson were consummate gardeners who designed unique and important gardens at their homes at Long Barn and Sissinghurst. Nearly half a century after Vita's death, Sissinghurst remains one of the most visited gardens in the world.
Vita Sackville-West
Vita and her husband Harold Nicolson were consummate gardeners who designed unique and important gardens at their homes at Long Barn and Sissinghurst. Nearly half a century after Vita's death, Sissinghurst remains one of the most visited gardens in the world.
- Great British Gardens: Great Garden Designers: Vita Sackville-West
- Now acclaimed as the embodiment of modern British gardening tradition, Sissinghurst is Sackville-West and Nicolson's enduring legacy, a haven of peace and beauty.
- Long Barn and Sissinghurst
- Sissinghurst was not the first garden to be created by Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson. This article is about their gardening background before they bought Sissinghurst Castle.
- Tour UK: Gardens in Kent: Sissinghurst Castle Garden
- Very good overview of important aspects of the Sissinghurst's gardens.
- Sissinghurst Castle Garden of Vita Sackville West
- A monument to Vita Sackville West which captures the heart of every garden-lover
- Sissinghurst Castle Garden
- Sissinghurst Castle Garden - a delightful garden designed by Vita sackville-West in the 1930's. The site contains stunning digital photography of the entire garden.
- Vita Sackville-West, GardenHistoryInfo.com
- Informative articles on the history of gardening and garden restoration
~ biography of gardener Vita Sackville-West - Vita Sackville-West, GardenHistoryInfo.com
- Informative articles on the history of gardening and garden restoration
~ biography of gardener Vita Sackville-West
Gardening Books by VS-W
"The country habit has me by the heart,
For he's bewitched forever who has seen,
Not with his eyes but with his vision,
Spring Flow down the woods and stipple leaves with sun."
Vita Sackville-West
For he's bewitched forever who has seen,
Not with his eyes but with his vision,
Spring Flow down the woods and stipple leaves with sun."
Vita Sackville-West
More gardening writings by Vita
For more on Sissinghurst Gardens...
...here's a wonderful lens by lensmaster Bibliophilia! Chock full of all kinds of information on Sissinghurst... be sure to check it out.
Gardening Books About VS-W's Gardens
Vita and Harold
Beautiful Autumn at Sissinghurst Poster
Links to Vita Pages and Websites
- Today in Literature: The Lives of Vita Sackville-West
- An excellent article summarizing the "lives" of Vita - really whets the appetite to know more!
- Vita Sackville-West, A Biographical Note
- A brief, but very good biography of Vita, that puts her literary works on a timeline with the events of her life.
- Vita Sackville-West bio at Spartacus Educational
- A short biography.
- Isle of Lesbos: Vita Sackville-West's Letters
- Letters from Vita Sackville-West, two to Virginia Woolf and one to Violet Trefusis.
- Excerpts from Long Life, by Nigel Nicolson
- Nigel Nicolson's memoirs, including much about his parents, and his choice to publish Portrait of a Marriage.
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- List of portraits and (thumbnail views of them) for Victoria Mary ('Vita') Sackville-West, who was the sitter in 17 portraits in the Gallery. Very interesting site to visit, as there are several less-commonly-seen images of Vita later in life.
- The Bloomsbury Group: Artists, Writers and Thinkers: Vita Sackville West
- Brief bio, a few quotes, and an audio of Janet McTeer (who played Vita in the BBC's Portrait of a Marriage) reading from Vita's In Your Garden.
- glbtq Literature: Sackville-West, Vita
- Although her letters make frequent--usually cryptic--allusions to her sexual relationships with women (and Victoria Glendinning fills out the story with rich detail in her 1983 biography), Sackville-West wrote directly and at length about her sexual identity only once, in a secret journal in 1920, discovered after her death in 1962 by her son Nigel Nicolson and published as part of Portrait of a Marriage in 1973.
- ViewImages, Getty Images: Vita Sackville-West
- This is a must-see link, with three pages of very rare photos of Vita throughout her life. (The photos cannot be downloaded or reproduced in any way, so be sure to check out this link, as you won't see them anywhere else!)
- Books and Writers: Vita Sackville-West
- Short biography and selected bibliography; some quotes. Vita (Victoria Mary) Sackville-West (1892-1962) English poet and novelist, born into an old aristocratic family....
- thePeerage.com - Hon. Victoria Mary Sackville-West
- A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain. It's interesting to trace Vita's family backwards and forwards. Her great grandchildren are now in their 20s.
- Vita Sackville-West on LibraryThing
- Vita's author page on LibraryThing, where you can catalog your books online
- Vita Sackville-West; a biography and bibliography
- Big Bill's Vita Sackville-West Stuff!
She created the gardens at Sissinghurst, and was best chums with Violet Trefusis, don't you know!
Don't let the title (or the subtitle!) keep you away. This is actually a well-written fansite that is a brief summation of Vita's life, and includes a bibliography. "Big Bill" knows his stuff!
Jodhpurs and pearls
Vita Items on eBay
As you can imagine, what's available on eBay varies wildly from day to day-- sometimes 21st century paperbacks not worth anything, but sometimes real gems. This module updates automatically each day, so check back often to see what you can find!
Final Resting Place
Vita died of cancer on 2 June 1962, at home at Sissinghurst. Her ashes, fittingly, were placed in the inkwell she had used at Long Barn, and they rest beneath the Sackville Family Chapel, St. Michael and All Angels Church, Withyham, East Sussex.
The Sackville Chapel, St Michaels & All Angels, Withyham
The Chapel has, fortunately, been less restored than the church, though the original floor of black and white marble squares has disappeared, but the 17th century iron railings, probably from a local forge, still remain, as does the gold and azure ceiling....
Blogging Vita
Who is talking about Vita these days? In what context is she being discussed? Links to some blog posts about Vita Sackville-West.
- Mercenary Gardens
- March 9, 2008: Orlando as Gardener.
How most aristocratic families of the period had male gardeners to do their work, but Vita sang the praises of doing all the chores of gardening oneself. - Maitresse: Essays and observations on books, culture, life and art in the City of Light
- February 25, 2008: Vita vs Virginia
excerpt: "The mind that produced Seducers in Ecuador could be accused of many things but dullness is not one of them."
October 01, 2007: Violet Trefusis and Vita Sackville-West: the mini-series
excerpt: "...while trolling YouTube I found the 1992 BBC mini-series "Portrait of a Marriage," based on Vita's son Nigel's book, which stars Janet McTeer (who sounds incredibly, and appropriately so, like Tilda Swinton in the film adaptation of Orlando) and Cathryn Harrison." - Home & Interior Design: Country Inns: The Manor Borne
- Home & Interior Design
April 15, 2008: Country Inns: The Manor Borne
The exteriors are elegant and the gardens unbelievably lush. Come along for an authentic tour through real English country homes."There is nothing quite like the English country house anywhere else in the world," wrote Vita Sackville-West. "It may be large, it may be small; it may be palatial, it may be manorial.... - Inventors of Gay: Vita Sackville-West
- Gay.com
April 12, 2011: Inventors of Gay: Vita Sackville-West
"Inventors of Gay" is a series on important people in LGBT history who helped create the more open culture enjoyed today.
Recent News About Vita
- MLA News Press Release
- From the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council of the UK) News: Vita Sackville-West's Sissinghurst Castle study saved for nation (17 October 2007)
- Growing Roses the Sissinghurst Way (Telegraph.co.uk)
- Sissinghurst's roses are the best in the country. Now's the time to learn how it's done, says Sarah Raven
- Letters cast a new light on famous lesbian affair
- Bitchy pen portraits and moving tributes found in unpublished correspondence between the poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West and an aspiring young writer.
- Classic Titles Revived for New Digital Imprint
- eBook Magazine, 28 December 2011
Five Vita Sackville-West titles to be released as ebooks.
Getting to know Vita....
This lens is but an overview of the life of a very complex person, and one couldn't pretend to know her, the essence of her, from reading this web page.If your interest in Vita has been piqued, I encourage you to follow as many of the links here as you can, and also to read, read, read! There is so much material authored by the woman herself, and so much material written about the woman, that you'll have months or even years to get to know this fascinating person.
If you have enjoyed this lens, please help boost its lensrank by giving it a thumbs up at the top of this page, and/or bookmarking it to your favorite social bookmarking sites.
Also, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to sign the guestbook!
Share your impressions of Vita Sackville-West
Had you heard of Vita before visiting this lens? How did you discover her? What do you like best about her? Share your impressions of Vita Sackville-West:
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TapIn2U Dec 29, 2011 @ 11:31 am | delete
- Honestly, I don't know her until I read this. Sundae ;-)
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Comfortdoc
Dec 29, 2011 @ 6:50 am | delete
- Beautifully crafted lens. I've added it to the Famous Women in History section. Thank you for bringing Vita to my attention. I had heard about The Edwardian's series. Haven't been watching adult PBS (BBC shows) much since having the kids.
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baby-strollers
Dec 20, 2011 @ 4:41 pm | delete
- Nope, never heard of her! Some of those gardens are quite beautiful.
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jamespete
Dec 13, 2011 @ 12:01 pm | delete
- Nice balance between text and photos. People wrote letters in those days. Now we have lenses!
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raffaela21
Nov 25, 2011 @ 5:33 am | delete
- I love Vita, you can find much information on this page but also on this one: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-Woolf-Vita-Sackville-West-Correspondance-1923-1941/203408906356869
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Worldwide hits to this lens since September 8, 2010!About the Lensmaster
Lensmaster since 2005, Giant Squid since 2008, 100 Club since 2011
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This lens has been blessed by the following Squid Angels,and I thank them from the bottom of my heart!
Absolutely Amazing Photography of Knole and Sissinghurst
I found a set of tremendous photos of two of Vita's homes (Sissinghurst and Knole) on Flickr, taken by photographer Funky_Slug, aka Brian Stevenson. I used to be able to show them here, but he has changed his license to all rights reserved (with good reason - he's fabulous!)
You can still view the photos on Flickr, and you won't believe how magical they are!
Click here to view Funky_Slug's photos of Sissinghurst and Knole on Flickr
You can still view the photos on Flickr, and you won't believe how magical they are!
Click here to view Funky_Slug's photos of Sissinghurst and Knole on Flickr
by WhitePineLane
WhitePineLane
Crazy about her husband of 24 years and her two teenage kids. Longtime more »
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Portrait of a Marriage on DVD
Portrait of a Marriage
Amazon Price: $25.90 (as of 02/17/2012)
See the fabulous BBC version of Nigel Nicolson's book about his parents' marriage. Janet McTeer is perfect as Vita Sackville-West!
The Edwardians
The Edwardians
Amazon Price: $9.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
BBC adaptation of one of Vita's most popular novels.
