Loved this insightful intro into this side of Virginia Woolf, which was was totally new to me. And oh my heavens!: “Finding my name and Cambridge Ladies’ Dining Society post on Mary Paley Marshall included by the front door as part of the current exhibition was very touching indeed” . This is marvelous!
Thanks Maria, I was so surprised and delighted to see my name there! All thanks to Aditya. Very glad the overlooked women of Cambridge are getting more recognition, and Mary Paley Marshall made access to education possible for so many women around the UK and beyond, not least as a role model to inspire them. It's also likely that she wrote more of Alfred's books than she's given credit for.
What a great round-up article. I wasn't aware of that particular book by Woolf and will watch out for the film. I love swifts but they are too swift to photograph 😆
I found the trailer (and this is all I have seen) to be quite silly. It has become more a comedy of manners and trifling music accompaniment. Adore the book as I do all of Woolf's work
I really enjoyed the film! Afterward, though, I did have to do a deep dive to confirm that the filming aligned with Lily Allen's divorce. I feel like you can see something is really not right in life when you watch her. (And I saw her West End Girl concert a few weeks ago and I'm so happy to see her more herself.)
Imagine being a creative English woman with mental health issues who runs in a sexually fluid but also emotionally draining circle and you get cast in movie based on a novel by VIRGINIA FREAKING WOOLF.
I love the "couch to 5k" reading idea. Just yesterday, I piled up all the books that I want to read and now I need to sort them because completing them all may be overly ambitious... 😅
It's good, isn't it? It was inspired by Naomi that I started the day with ten minutes of biography reading, with just a pen and notebook close by (no phone) to note down any thoughts. Sometimes the day just whirls on, and we don't stop to read for pleasure!
Just spent July August book budget on book about Woolf’s Gardens. Also going to make it a goal to read all her work. Thank you for sharing. Love your letters 📚📚😘
That's great Luise, do have a look at Karina's Substack too, if you haven't already (I was honoured to be invited onto her podcast earlier this year). Thanks re kind words about my Letters, it's fun to share good stuff!
Also, I think everyone who particularly appreciates Virginia Woolf's writing is grateful for how her husband Leonard and all her friends mostly, and carefully, looked out for her well-being so as to help her feel more comfortable amid temporary emotional upheaval and, in its decline or absence, express her writing genius.
Agreed, Larry! Leonard seems to have been a great support, as was her sister Vanessa and a friend called 'Ka' (Katherine) Cox. She couldn't have produced the work she did without their kindness.
So pleased, Janey! I am enjoying reading it at the moment and it reveals another side to Woolf's writing – it reminds me a little of the beginning of Howard's End, with the young man a version of the aspirational Leonard Bast.
This new film of Virginia Woolf's novel, "Night and Day" sounds excellent. Will look forward to your thoughts concerning it. Hope it will be streamed on Amazon or Netflix. The director Tina Gharavi, was born in Tehran, Iran but went to high school in Middletown, New Jersey. She's made a clutch of films with two more after this in pre-production. She won a BAFTA debut writer's award and is probably very British like how Tom Stoppard was born in Czech Republic but was thoroughly British. From Iran seems to arrive the Persian creative impulse in so much poetry and then that is probably a cultural impulse that blooms elsewhere through the Iranian Diaspora. I would think Virginia Woolf would have been upset at half an hour writing time but grateful for any time at all.
That's so interesting Larry, hearing about Tina Gharavi's Iranian background. She sounds like someone to look out for, in terms of becoming a notable director and combining her cultural impulse with making good quality films. Yes, it must have been hard for Woolf to be so restricted and watched over, even by people who loved her, including her husband Leonard.
Yes, Gharavi sounds like a very interesting director to watch for quality films. Maybe you might try to contact her or her office for a short interview and ask her what drew her to Virginia Woolf and particularly what drew her to Woolf's novel Night and Day. You have a large readership and you are promoting her film anyway (if you want with the interview). She will probably be so grateful you are mentioning her film even if she can't arrange to give you a short telephone interview. It might hike views for that particular post and for your Substack thereafter. It might not fit in with your overall mission but you will be providing something unexpected which is a little surprise that most Substack readers would love to find. Just an idea. Also you could pair it up with an honest assessment of her film. Again, just an idea.
I haven’t seen the film yet, but Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders? That’s about as wonderfully English as all the afternoon tea in Night and Day. And Jack Whitehall has a knack for this kind of adaptation. I quite enjoyed his Paul Pennyfeather in Decline and Fall.
Very much enjoyed this post. Thank you for contextualising Night and Day - a novel i had not read.
I shall cycle round to admire the plaque to Mary Paley Marshall. I look forward to reading the outcome of your research into the letters between MPM and the iconic Joan Robinson.
What a wonderful surprise, thank you so much Ann for the mention. A thoroughly enjoyable post. I haven't read Night and Day, and am not sure why, and having read this think I should rectify it. My copy is one of the beautiful black Granada set, that all have such beautiful covers, and pulling it off the shelf for this made me wish books were still as lovely!
Your prime position at the exhibition is much deserved 👏 👏 I adore Night and Day, or did, and mainly am just heartened that a film of it can go relatively mainstream... a hopeful thought!!!
Loved this insightful intro into this side of Virginia Woolf, which was was totally new to me. And oh my heavens!: “Finding my name and Cambridge Ladies’ Dining Society post on Mary Paley Marshall included by the front door as part of the current exhibition was very touching indeed” . This is marvelous!
Thanks Maria, I was so surprised and delighted to see my name there! All thanks to Aditya. Very glad the overlooked women of Cambridge are getting more recognition, and Mary Paley Marshall made access to education possible for so many women around the UK and beyond, not least as a role model to inspire them. It's also likely that she wrote more of Alfred's books than she's given credit for.
Yes, indeed! Wonderful, Ann!
I found the film of Night and Day disappointing and disliked the sound track music. I can't say exactly why but I was bored.
Ah, I was worried that might be the case! Sometimes films seem to be trying to hard to be charming.
What a great round-up article. I wasn't aware of that particular book by Woolf and will watch out for the film. I love swifts but they are too swift to photograph 😆
Glad you enjoyed it Lucy! I read the book ages ago and have just started re-reading it. Enjoying it so far.
I found the trailer (and this is all I have seen) to be quite silly. It has become more a comedy of manners and trifling music accompaniment. Adore the book as I do all of Woolf's work
Yes I did wonder about that... re-reading the book in preparation!
I really enjoyed the film! Afterward, though, I did have to do a deep dive to confirm that the filming aligned with Lily Allen's divorce. I feel like you can see something is really not right in life when you watch her. (And I saw her West End Girl concert a few weeks ago and I'm so happy to see her more herself.)
Lucky you, Lily Allen’s concerts sound fab! That is intriguing, how the timing of the film affected her performance in it (not surprising, really).
Imagine being a creative English woman with mental health issues who runs in a sexually fluid but also emotionally draining circle and you get cast in movie based on a novel by VIRGINIA FREAKING WOOLF.
Exactly!
night & day is released in germany on the 9th (!) - definitely going to see it!!
I love the "couch to 5k" reading idea. Just yesterday, I piled up all the books that I want to read and now I need to sort them because completing them all may be overly ambitious... 😅
It's good, isn't it? It was inspired by Naomi that I started the day with ten minutes of biography reading, with just a pen and notebook close by (no phone) to note down any thoughts. Sometimes the day just whirls on, and we don't stop to read for pleasure!
Just spent July August book budget on book about Woolf’s Gardens. Also going to make it a goal to read all her work. Thank you for sharing. Love your letters 📚📚😘
That's great Luise, do have a look at Karina's Substack too, if you haven't already (I was honoured to be invited onto her podcast earlier this year). Thanks re kind words about my Letters, it's fun to share good stuff!
Also, I think everyone who particularly appreciates Virginia Woolf's writing is grateful for how her husband Leonard and all her friends mostly, and carefully, looked out for her well-being so as to help her feel more comfortable amid temporary emotional upheaval and, in its decline or absence, express her writing genius.
Agreed, Larry! Leonard seems to have been a great support, as was her sister Vanessa and a friend called 'Ka' (Katherine) Cox. She couldn't have produced the work she did without their kindness.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film, though to be fair I only went because it is billed as an adaptation of Woolf's 'funniest novel'.😲
I'm looking forward to the novel now, which is on order from my local library 😊
So pleased, Janey! I am enjoying reading it at the moment and it reveals another side to Woolf's writing – it reminds me a little of the beginning of Howard's End, with the young man a version of the aspirational Leonard Bast.
This new film of Virginia Woolf's novel, "Night and Day" sounds excellent. Will look forward to your thoughts concerning it. Hope it will be streamed on Amazon or Netflix. The director Tina Gharavi, was born in Tehran, Iran but went to high school in Middletown, New Jersey. She's made a clutch of films with two more after this in pre-production. She won a BAFTA debut writer's award and is probably very British like how Tom Stoppard was born in Czech Republic but was thoroughly British. From Iran seems to arrive the Persian creative impulse in so much poetry and then that is probably a cultural impulse that blooms elsewhere through the Iranian Diaspora. I would think Virginia Woolf would have been upset at half an hour writing time but grateful for any time at all.
That's so interesting Larry, hearing about Tina Gharavi's Iranian background. She sounds like someone to look out for, in terms of becoming a notable director and combining her cultural impulse with making good quality films. Yes, it must have been hard for Woolf to be so restricted and watched over, even by people who loved her, including her husband Leonard.
Ann,
Yes, Gharavi sounds like a very interesting director to watch for quality films. Maybe you might try to contact her or her office for a short interview and ask her what drew her to Virginia Woolf and particularly what drew her to Woolf's novel Night and Day. You have a large readership and you are promoting her film anyway (if you want with the interview). She will probably be so grateful you are mentioning her film even if she can't arrange to give you a short telephone interview. It might hike views for that particular post and for your Substack thereafter. It might not fit in with your overall mission but you will be providing something unexpected which is a little surprise that most Substack readers would love to find. Just an idea. Also you could pair it up with an honest assessment of her film. Again, just an idea.
I haven’t seen the film yet, but Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders? That’s about as wonderfully English as all the afternoon tea in Night and Day. And Jack Whitehall has a knack for this kind of adaptation. I quite enjoyed his Paul Pennyfeather in Decline and Fall.
Afternoon tea just got better: swifts; graduating gown clad students and grumpy porters and married economists dining in blue plaqued houses
Very much enjoyed this post. Thank you for contextualising Night and Day - a novel i had not read.
I shall cycle round to admire the plaque to Mary Paley Marshall. I look forward to reading the outcome of your research into the letters between MPM and the iconic Joan Robinson.
What a wonderful surprise, thank you so much Ann for the mention. A thoroughly enjoyable post. I haven't read Night and Day, and am not sure why, and having read this think I should rectify it. My copy is one of the beautiful black Granada set, that all have such beautiful covers, and pulling it off the shelf for this made me wish books were still as lovely!
Your prime position at the exhibition is much deserved 👏 👏 I adore Night and Day, or did, and mainly am just heartened that a film of it can go relatively mainstream... a hopeful thought!!!