In Search of Leonard Woolf

I went to a talk given by Woolf's biographer, Victoria Glendinning as part of Jewish Book week. I'd seen her talk about Leonard before at the Southwold literary festival last November, but this was very different, as was being given to a Jewish audience. There were readings from Leonard's writing demonstrating how much his Jewishness impinged on his thinking. He was certainly not orthodox and non-practising, his wife Virginia was a gentile. He thought of himself as British, but came to realise that this was not how 'the establishment' viewed him. The greatest enigma to my mind was what exactly he saw in his wife. She was high-maintenance to say the least, she'd had several serious breakdowns and psycotic episodes, she was suicidal, her sister had off loaded her on Leonard to avoid having to look after her, she wasn't interested in sex (well certainly not with Leonard) and wrote a diary full of very offensive anti-semitic comments. Leonard, on the other hand was overbrimming with love and desire, but remained faithful to his wife until she died, and he provoked adoration in so many women - one of whom at least declared she had fallen in love with him on first sight. A fascinating man who deserves greater attention.