Virginia Woolf is regarded as one of England's greatest novelists, yet while her work has been endlessly studied she remains a somewhat elusive personality and the source of continuing myth. Including reminiscences from such luminaries as T.S. Elliot, E.M. Forster, Christopher Isherwood, Vita Sackville-West, Duncan Grant, Stephen Spender and Rebecca West, these enthralling recollections from the people who knew her intimately capture the lesser-known aspects of Virginia Woolf's nature: her rapport with children, her habit of plying people with questions, the stress she caused herself by her creative writing. Many of the pieces had never been published before this book first appeared, while others were written especially for Joan Russell Noble's fascinating and moving collection. What emerges from the Recollections of Virginia Woolf is a composite portrait of a widely admired and misunderstood writer and woman.