Virginia Woolf

Adeline Virginia Stephen was born into a prominent Victorian intellectual family. Her father Leslie Stephen was a renowned literary critic and her mother Julia was a noted beauty and model.

Julia Stephen died suddenly at age 49. Virginia experienced her first mental breakdown following this devastating loss, beginning her lifelong struggle with mental illness.

Stella Duckworth, who had taken on the maternal role after Julia's death, died of peritonitis just months after her wedding. This second major loss deepened Virginia's psychological trauma.

After Leslie Stephen's death, Virginia and her siblings moved to Gordon Square in Bloomsbury. Their home became the gathering place for the Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals and artists.

Virginia began her professional writing career contributing reviews and essays to the Times Literary Supplement. She would continue writing criticism throughout her life alongside her fiction.

Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a Jewish intellectual and former colonial administrator. Their partnership became one of the most celebrated literary marriages, marked by mutual support and devotion.

Virginia suffered a severe mental breakdown and attempted suicide by overdose. She required extended rest cures and was never free from the threat of recurring episodes.

Virginia's first novel The Voyage Out was published after years of work and revision. The book established her as a serious literary voice and introduced themes she would explore throughout her career.

Virginia and Leonard established the Hogarth Press in their home. The press gave Virginia complete control over publishing her own work and introduced important new writers including T.S. Eliot.

Jacob's Room marked Virginia's breakthrough into modernist fiction. The novel's experimental technique of impressionistic narrative established her unique stream-of-consciousness style.

Virginia began her most significant romantic relationship with aristocrat and writer Vita Sackville-West. Their passionate affair inspired Orlando and remained important to Virginia throughout her life.

Mrs Dalloway, set during a single day in London, showcased Virginia's mastery of stream of consciousness. The novel is now considered one of the greatest works of twentieth-century literature.

To the Lighthouse, inspired by her childhood memories of St Ives and her parents, is considered Virginia's masterpiece. The novel's exploration of time and memory revolutionized narrative technique.

Orlando, a fantastical biography spanning centuries and genders, was Virginia's love letter to Vita Sackville-West. The playful novel became her most commercially successful work.

Virginia's extended essay A Room of One's Own became a foundational text of feminist literary criticism. Her argument that women need money and privacy to write remains influential today.

The Waves, composed of soliloquies by six characters, represented Virginia's most experimental work. The novel pushed the boundaries of what fiction could achieve and how consciousness could be portrayed.

The Years, a sweeping family saga, became Virginia's bestselling novel during her lifetime. The book demonstrated her ability to write in both experimental and more traditional modes.

As World War II raged and fearing another mental breakdown, Virginia drowned herself in the River Ouse. She left behind letters to Leonard and her sister expressing her love and gratitude.