Behind the Mask

The Life of Vita Sackville-West

Biography & Memoir, Literary
Cover of the book Behind the Mask by Matthew Dennison, St. Martin's Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Matthew Dennison ISBN: 9781250033956
Publisher: St. Martin's Press Publication: June 9, 2015
Imprint: St. Martin's Press Language: English
Author: Matthew Dennison
ISBN: 9781250033956
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication: June 9, 2015
Imprint: St. Martin's Press
Language: English

A dazzling new biography of Vita Sackville-West, the 20th century aristocrat, literary celebrity, devoted wife, famous lover of Virginia Woolf, recluse, and iconoclast who defied categorization.

In this stunning new biography of Vita Sackville-West, Matthew Dennison's Behind the Mask traces the triumph and contradictions of Vita's extraordinary life. His narrative charts a fascinating course from Vita's lonely childhood at Knole, through her affectionate but ‘open' marriage to Harold Nicolson (during which both husband and wife energetically pursued homosexual affairs, Vita most famously with Virginia Woolf), and through Vita's literary successes and disappointments, to the famous gardens the couple created at Sissinghurst. The book tells how, from her privileged world of the aristocracy, Sackville-West brought her penchant for costume, play-acting and rebellion to the artistic vanguard of modern Britain. Dennison is the acclaimed author of many books including a biography of Queen Victoria. Here, in the first biography to be written of Vita for thirty years, he reveals the whole story and gets behind ‘the beautiful mask' of Vita's public achievements to reveal an often troubled persona which heroically resisted compromise on every level. Drawing on wideranging sources and the extensive letters that sustained her marriage, this is a compelling story of love, loss and jealousy, of high-life and low points, of binding affection and illicit passion – a portrait of an extraordinary, 20th-century life.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A dazzling new biography of Vita Sackville-West, the 20th century aristocrat, literary celebrity, devoted wife, famous lover of Virginia Woolf, recluse, and iconoclast who defied categorization.

In this stunning new biography of Vita Sackville-West, Matthew Dennison's Behind the Mask traces the triumph and contradictions of Vita's extraordinary life. His narrative charts a fascinating course from Vita's lonely childhood at Knole, through her affectionate but ‘open' marriage to Harold Nicolson (during which both husband and wife energetically pursued homosexual affairs, Vita most famously with Virginia Woolf), and through Vita's literary successes and disappointments, to the famous gardens the couple created at Sissinghurst. The book tells how, from her privileged world of the aristocracy, Sackville-West brought her penchant for costume, play-acting and rebellion to the artistic vanguard of modern Britain. Dennison is the acclaimed author of many books including a biography of Queen Victoria. Here, in the first biography to be written of Vita for thirty years, he reveals the whole story and gets behind ‘the beautiful mask' of Vita's public achievements to reveal an often troubled persona which heroically resisted compromise on every level. Drawing on wideranging sources and the extensive letters that sustained her marriage, this is a compelling story of love, loss and jealousy, of high-life and low points, of binding affection and illicit passion – a portrait of an extraordinary, 20th-century life.

More books from St. Martin's Press

Cover of the book Claws of the Cat by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Execute Authority by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Borderless Economics by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Honor Among Thieves by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Coup d'Etat by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Twelve Mighty Orphans by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Bearing His Touch by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Dead After Dark by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Crime Scene by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Hangman's Creek / Jury of Six by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book The Earl is Mine by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book The Lost Coast by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book The Scandalous Flirt by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book All About All About Eve by Matthew Dennison
Cover of the book Foo Fighters by Matthew Dennison
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy