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michele_la's review against another edition
2.0
Could barely choke it down. The writing wasn't bad at all, but the POV was so overwhelmingly female that reading the story felt like swimming in estrogen. Maybe it was intended to be this way but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
bunnyprincess's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I knew exactly how it would end and yet I sobbed. A beautiful depiction of sisterhood, grief and living through pain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and War
miniritzreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
batbones's review against another edition
4.0
Glimmering and impressionistic, every bit the descendent of the light but feeling touch of sisters Woolf and Bell. Like the sisters, Sellers shows that lightness too has its own weight, tugging the heart chords from start to finish.
federicafrazza's review against another edition
3.0
"Hai ragione tu. Quello che conta è non smettere di creare."
els04's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Vanessa & Virginia. Door: Susan Sellers.
Geweldig om dit boek net na mij pelgrimage-vakantie langs de huizen van Vanessa, Virginia én Vita te lezen!
De zussen Vanessa Bell en Virginia Woolf blijven de wereld beroeren en ontroeren; er verschenen al talloze boeken (fictie en non-fictie) over hen en hun kleurrijke vrienden, beter bekend als de Bloomsbury groep.
Dit boek, een roman gebaseerd op waargebeurde feiten, geeft een inkijkje in de band tussen de twee uiterst getalenteerde zussen. Het is voor het eerst dat ik lees over de rivaliteit die er soms tussen hen was. Die natuurlijk logisch is. In de loop der tijd zijn zij voor ons iconen geworden maar ooit waren deze 2 beroemde vrouwen gewoon twee kleine meisjes die vochten om de aandacht van hun moeder.
Sellers koos er voor om vanuit het standpunt van de oudste zus (Vanessa) te schrijven. De zus die overblijft… Het boek begint heel chaotisch en anekdotisch, best moeilijk te volgen. Later wordt het chronologischer en daardoor beter leesbaar. Meeslepend zelfs. Een geweldige aanwinst voor de Bloomsbury plank in mijn boekenkast!
gripyfish's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
artemismatchalatte's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
redroofcolleen's review against another edition
3.0
I can't quite put my finger on the pulse of this book. While it is fairly well written, it was a bit too jumpy, with leaps of years between paragraphs and a way of writing about an event without revealing what actually happened, which was annoying. I found myself rereading passages, searching for clarity. I do love the descriptions of Vanessa's paintings and the emotions she's trying to convey.
flappermyrtle's review against another edition
3.0
This book hung about my book case for a good year and a half, and I vaguely remember finding it on a massive book sale event for a few euros and taking it home, liking its premise of filling in Virginia Woolf's life. And then, Susan Sellers turned out to be a lecturer on my MLitt programme and I recalled having this book. Which is why I finally read it!
The start was a bit slow. The novel is written from Vanessa's perspective, in a style loosely resembling stream-of-consciousness. Since these are all memories, I initially had some trouble with the fragmented timeline, but this might also be due to my fragmented reading of the book. Once I got into it properly, I pretty much read half of it in two hours, going much more smoothly with the flow of the novel.
Eventually, both sisters have their problems as characters, and Sellers is not afraid to show them. However, despite the abundance of detail and inner world of Vanessa, they never truly became flesh-and-blood to me - both remained a sort of hazy, dreamlike creatures. The bohemian lifestyle of both does not help ward this sensation of the fantastical off. While the novel is clearly very well researched, it refuses to turn the lives of the sisters into a neat narrative like so many other autofiction does, but this might have gone somewhat at the cost of the eventual readability of the book and sympathy of the reader.
The start was a bit slow. The novel is written from Vanessa's perspective, in a style loosely resembling stream-of-consciousness. Since these are all memories, I initially had some trouble with the fragmented timeline, but this might also be due to my fragmented reading of the book. Once I got into it properly, I pretty much read half of it in two hours, going much more smoothly with the flow of the novel.
Eventually, both sisters have their problems as characters, and Sellers is not afraid to show them. However, despite the abundance of detail and inner world of Vanessa, they never truly became flesh-and-blood to me - both remained a sort of hazy, dreamlike creatures. The bohemian lifestyle of both does not help ward this sensation of the fantastical off. While the novel is clearly very well researched, it refuses to turn the lives of the sisters into a neat narrative like so many other autofiction does, but this might have gone somewhat at the cost of the eventual readability of the book and sympathy of the reader.