"Companionable and piquant, Gillian Gill's bold reading of the lives of Virginia Woolf's female exemplars yields a kaleidoscopic view of her subject, whirling across the centuries and enabling Woolf to be seen from new and unexpected angles. The most refreshing take on Bloomsbury in many years."--Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life. "Gillian Gill has written a bold, incisive book--vividly conceived, impeccably researched, always questioning and ever original. By shedding light upon the gutsy, powerful women who shaped Virginia Woolf's life and work, Gill makes a compelling argument about legacy, inheritance, and our female forebears' enduring influence." --Katharine Smyth, author of All the Lives We Ever Lived: Seeking Solace in Virginia Woolf "A delicious--and disturbing--account of a time when men made all the rules, and a few unusual and talented women in Virginia Woolf's orbit found ways to subvert them. Gillian Gill weaves this story of Virginia Woolf's world in her own irresistible style--irreverent, unconstrained, and deeply informed. Gill has a voice all her own, uniquely suited to recreating the no-holds-barred climate of Bloomsbury."--Susan Quinn, author of Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair That Shaped a First Lady "An engaging, fully persuasive account of the women who stirred Virginia Woolf's imagination. Gillian Gill's broad-minded reading of Woolf's relations with her womenfolk recontextualizes the legends of Bloomsbury."--Carolyn Burke, author of Foursome: Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keefe, Paul Strand, Rebecca Salsbury "Gill's writing is lively, pinpointing the amusing, sometimes salacious, and ultimately damaging aspects of Woolf's multiple worlds...Woolf fans will be entertained."--Publishers Weekly "This volume will be welcomed by readers and students curious about the cultural aspects of Woolf's development as a writer."--Library Journal --