Gardens in the Work of Virginia Woolf

Nature, Modernity and the Politics of Space

Karina Jakubowicz

Hardback

£90.00

Ebook (app) i

£90.00

Ebook (PDF) i

£90.00

Examines gardens, gardening and horticulture in the work of Virginia Woolf through a cultural and historical lens

Provides a unique insight into nature and organicism in Woolf’s work
Highlights the deeply spatial nature of Woolf's writing
Explores the politics of space in Woolf's work, and demonstrates how this was informed by historical events, cultural context, and personal factors
Argues Woolf’s literary gardens are inherently modernist
Shows that Woolf’s literary gardens were vital to the development of her modernist style

This study reads Woolf’s fictional gardens in light of her development as a writer, tracing these spaces alongside elements of her personal life and her changing understanding of nature and space. In the course of this work, these locations are revealed to be emotionally and imaginatively charged, acting as vehicles for powerful sentiments and vital intellectual arguments. Through extensive examinations of texts including The Voyage Out, ‘Kew Gardens’, Jacob’s Room, Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and The Waves, this book frames Woolf’s literary gardens as expressive and innovative spheres that formed part of wider early twentieth-century attempts to reimagine nature and domesticity as vibrant, even radical, facets of modern life.

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction
1. ‘Life in a garden’: Landscapes of Female Development in The Voyage Out

2. ‘Dangerous ground’: The Origins of ‘Kew Gardens’

3. ‘Not in so many words': Cut Flowers and Commemoration in Mrs Dalloway

4. Moving the Tree: Painting the Artist’s Garden in To the Lighthouse

5. ‘Stuck together with faded leaves': Growing Gardens in The Waves

6. ‘A garden full of lust and bees': Queering Woolf’s Literary Gardens

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Reviews

I learned a great deal from this brilliantly observed investigation of gardens as place, metaphor, inspiration, memorial, origin and more across Woolf’s oeuvre. From the remarkable persistence of Kew Gardens to Woolf’s queering of literary historical metaphors, Jakubowicz’s subtle and well-informed close readings are a real treasure.
– Mark Hussey, author of Mrs Dalloway: Biography of a Novel

About the Author

Karina Jakubowicz is an adjunct lecturer at Fordham University New York and Florida State University. She is a graduate of University College London, Clare College Cambridge, and Trinity College Dublin. She was the recipient of an academic scholarship from Trinity College Dublin and was the winner of the 2017 Katherine Mansfield essay prize. Her numerous publications concern the work of 20th century writers and focus primarily on the role of nature and space in their work. She also creates and produces the Virginia Woolf Podcast.