“Nothing yet published about her so totally contradicts the legend of Virginia Woolf.... [This] is a first chance to meet the writer in her own unguarded words and to observe the root impulses of her art without the distractions of a commentary” (New York Times). Edited and with a Preface by Anne Olivier Bell; Introduction by Quentin Bell; Index.

Amid the tumultuous landscape of early 20th-century literature, a voice emerged that would forever alter the contours of modern fiction. This collection of intimate diaries offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind of one of the greatest literary figures of her time. Spanning over several years, these journals reveal Virginia Woolf's innermost thoughts, struggles, and triumphs, providing an intimate counterpoint to her well-known novels. Readers are invited to witness the raw, unfiltered emotions that fueled Woolf's groundbreaking works, from the initial spark of inspiration to the painstaking process of creation. Her reflections on the cultural and political upheavals of her era, her candid observations on fellow writers, and her deeply personal battles with mental illness paint a vivid portrait of a woman driven by an insatiable quest for artistic perfection and personal truth. The Diary of Virginia Woolf, Volume I collects Woolf’s diaries between 1915 and 1919. VIRGINIA WOOLF [1882–1941] was an English author. With novels like Jacob’s Room [1922], Mrs Dalloway [1925], To the Lighthouse [1927], and Orlando [1928], she became a leading figure of modernism and is considered one of the most important English-language authors of the 20th century. As a thinker, with essays like A Room of One’s Own [1929], Woolf has influenced the women’s movement in many countries.

Virginia Woolf turned to her diary as to an intimate friend, to whom she could freely and spontaneously confide her thoughts on public events or the joys and trials of domestic life. Between 1st January 1915 and her death in 1941 she regularly recorded he