Book review: ‘The Diary of Virginia Woolf, volume 3 • 1925–30’

Volume three of Virginia Woolf’s diary covers the years 1925–1930. This is a mostly happy and productive period for Woolf in which she starts making serious money, and shows increasing confidence as a writer. It is also during this period that Woolf has an affair with Vita Sackville-West. The Woolfs also buy their first motor-car, with which Virginia is clearly besotted.

During the years covered in this volume, Woolf finishes writing Mrs Dalloway and The Common Reader, then goes on to write To the Lighthouse, Orlando, A Room of One’s Own, and most of The Waves. She also writes numerous essays.

As in the previous volumes in this series, Woolf records her interactions with her extended ‘set’ and its bewildering array of characters. She also writes lengthy accounts of the General Strike, and of meeting both H.G. Wells and Thomas Hardy (whose funeral she later attends). She also describes a train excursion to Yorkshire to witness a total eclipse of the sun, and, at the very end of the volume, has her handbag stolen.

As with the first two volumes of the diary, I enjoyed this volume very much indeed, and look forward to reading the remaining two.