Description

About the Book:

Once described as the ‘longest and most charming love-letter in literature’, Orlando by Virginia Woolf is a whimsical and innovative novel written for her intimate friend, Vita Sackville-West. This Penguin Classics edition, edited by Brenda Lyons with an introduction and notes by Sandra M. Gilbert, offers a fresh look at this classic work.

Orlando is a playful mock biography that chronicles the life of its eponymous protagonist, a chameleonic historical figure who changes sex and identity on a whim. Beginning as a young sixteenth-century nobleman, Orlando traverses through three centuries, experiencing life both as a man and a woman. By the end of the novel, Orlando emerges as a woman writer in Woolf’s own time.

This novel is a wry commentary on gender roles and modes of history, reveling in its own ambiguity and capriciousness. Described by Woolf as a light-hearted ‘writer’s holiday’, Orlando remains a delightful and thought-provoking exploration of identity and transformation.

• Language: English
• Author: Virginia Woolf
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• ISBN: 9780241371961
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