Vanessa and Her Sister: A Novel

by Priya Parmar

A New York Times Notable Book • An Entertainment Weekly “Must List” Pick • “Prepare to be dazzled.”—Paula McLain • “Quite simply astonishing.”—Sarah Blake

What if Virginia Woolf’s sister had kept a diary? For fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank comes a spellbinding new story of the inseparable bond between Virginia and her sister, the gifted painter Vanessa Bell, and the real-life betrayal that threatened to destroy their family. Hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “an uncanny success” and based on meticulous research, this stunning novel illuminates a little-known episode in the celebrated sisters’ glittering bohemian youth among the legendary Bloomsbury Group.

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London, 1905: The city is alight with change, and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby, and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury. There they bring together a glittering circle of bright, outrageous artistic friends who will grow into legend and come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group. And at the center of this charmed circle are the devoted, gifted sisters: Vanessa, the painter, and Virginia, the writer.

Each member of the group will go on to earn fame and success, but so far Vanessa Bell has never sold a painting. Virginia Woolf’s book review has just been turned down by The Times. Lytton Strachey has not published anything. E. M. Forster has finished his first novel but does not like the title. Leonard Woolf is still a civil servant in Ceylon, and John Maynard Keynes is looking for a job. Together, this sparkling coterie of artists and intellectuals throw away convention and embrace the wild freedom of being young, single bohemians in London.

But the landscape shifts when Vanessa unexpectedly falls in love and her sister feels dangerously abandoned. Eerily possessive, charismatic, manipulative, and brilliant, Virginia has always lived in the shelter of Vanessa’s constant attention and encouragement. Without it, she careens toward self-destruction and madness. As tragedy and betrayal threaten to destroy the family, Vanessa must decide if it is finally time to protect her own happiness above all else.

The work of exciting young newcomer Priya Parmar, Vanessa and Her Sister exquisitely captures the champagne-heady days of prewar London and the extraordinary lives of sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf.

Praise for Vanessa and Her Sister

“Fiction and history merge seamlessly in this dazzling novel.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Being related to Virginia Woolf can’t have been easy. In this delightful novel, Parmar re-imagines the brilliant, fragile writer and her turn-of-the-century bohemian friends. . . . You’ll be spellbound.”—People

“Rarely do you encounter a woman who commands as much admiration as does the painter Vanessa Bell in Priya Parmar’s multilayered, subtly shaded novel.”—The New York Times Book Review

“[A] gossipy, entertaining historical novel . . . Parmar conjures a devastating fictional portrait.”—USA Today

“Captivating . . . echoes of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility emerge in Parmar’s portrayal.”—Newsday

“An elegant, entertaining novel that brings new life to the Bloomsbury Group’s intrigues.”—The Dallas Morning News

• ISBN10: 0804176396
• ISBN13: 9780804176392
• Publish Date: 13 October 2015 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ballantine Books Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780804176392

Reviews

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Fond of:

Like Exit The Actress, Priya Parmar incorporates telegrams, letters, tickets and all sorts of tidbits to enhance the story creating a smorgasbord of wealthy information for the imagination's desire.
The novel is told through Vanessa's journal which I thought was a brilliant idea as it made sure to feature the lesser known sister without too much of an influence on Virginia.
Not only did I enjoy the journal format but the date headers where wonderfully descriptive too, really setting the tone for the upcoming plot.
An example of such a header is:

Friday 24 February 1905 -- 46 Gordon Square (early -- perfect light)

The writing in said entries was just as startling.

Duncan’s hands are long and soft, with a small, neat callus on his thumb from holding a brush—the painter’s hallmark. I felt it when he shook my hand.


I have babbled on about the Priya Parmar's writing long enough as the story was just as engrossing with well developed characters (particularly the dynamic between Vanessa and Virginia) sucking me in. The Bloomsbury Group were clearly presented feeling the liveliness of their artist/creative friends and the concern their brothers (Julian (Thoby) and Adrian) felt towards their sisters both through Virginia's health and their married status, but I felt that they were still open-minded enough not to hide their sisters away when there was only male company and would have seemed improper. I felt they were treated as equals which was nice to see.
After Vanessa's marriage it turned into a soap opera of sorts, but more along the lines of a Downton Abbey rather than an As The World Turns. There was betrayal, jealousies and romance with a bittersweet ending, all done classy.

Not Fond of:


While this was eventually established, it was a little difficult at first telling some characters apart particularly in the Bloomsbury group as they all seemed to have nick names of some sort; fortunately there was a "cast of characters" page which was very helpful.
This is more of neutral rather than a negative but I thought Virginia was portrayed a bit harshly, not to a point that was detesting and Virginia certainly did not always shine positively as a person but, it did feel a bit severe.


Final Thoughts:
Before I started Vanessa and Her Sister I knew very little about the Woolfs/Stephens/Bloombury Group but Priya Parmar's novel opened my eyes to express a need to learn more about the real cast of characters in the novel which I feel signifies the making of a great historical novel. As a whole, Vanessa and Her Sister was splendid and a pleasure to read.