New Books Network

Virginia Woolf, "The Life of Violet: Three Early Stories" (Princeton UP, 2025)

Oct 7, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Urmila Seshagiri, a Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of Tennessee, reveals her journey to becoming a Woolf scholar. She shares her thrilling discovery of Virginia Woolf's unfinished mock-biography, "The Life of Violet," highlighting its blend of fantasy and satire. Seshagiri explores the significance of the character Violet Dickinson, Woolf's friend and muse, and how this work challenges traditional narratives by celebrating female ambition and friendship. The conversation also connects these early stories to Woolf’s later masterpieces.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Drafts Versus Final Typescripts

  • The New York Public Library held a draft typescript of three 1907 stories but it was messy and unfinished.
  • That draft had been transcribed in 1979 but never included in mainstream Woolf fiction collections.
ANECDOTE

The Longleat Discovery

  • Urmila Seshagiri recounts discovering a revised typescript of Woolf's Friendships Gallery at Longleat House after years of archival detective work.
  • She describes the moment reading the saffron-bound book as unforgettable and thrilling.
ANECDOTE

How The Search Began

  • Seshagiri explains she first learned of Longleat House while researching Woolf's autobiography in 2018.
  • Longleat's archivists later confirmed they held an original finished typescript unknown to NYPL.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app