An excellent first introduction to the life of Virginia Woolf. Lehmann is highly qualified for the job as he worked for years at the Hogarth Press, the publishing House founded by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. Lehmann covers all the major events in Woolf's life and places her firmly in the context of the Bloomsbury group. Throughout the work Lehmann reveals himself as a keen enthusiast for both Woolf's fiction which he praises for its visionary nature and poetic language, and for her critical essays describing her as one of the greatest critics of her time. Occassionally, however, his biographical account is marred by a strong male bias. One example is his statement that in marriage Leonard Woolf had every right to expect that VW would respond to him sexually. Even more judgemental is his description of VW as sexually retarded. Here Lehmann clearly perceives sexuality as synonymous with intercourse, a view which VW herself considered as male-dominated. In her opinion female sexuality centered on intimacy which in its turn could take myriad forms (perhaps as many forms as there are people). Some of Lehmann's interpretations of VW's work also suffer from this male bias, most importantly his interpretation of the lighthouse in what is perhaps one of Woolf's most famous novels (To the Lighthouse). According to Lehmann, the lighthouse is 'phallic and a lonely image of male destiny ...; caressing and bringing ecstatic inner fulfilment to Mrs Ramsay (p. 59).' This reductionist interpretation is expressly contradicted by VW herself who explicitly states 'I meant nothing by the lighthouse. I can't manage symbolism except in this vague, generalised way ... directly I'm told what a thing means, it becomes hateful to me (p. 60).' Apart from these flaws, the book is as informative as one can expect of an introductory biography. Moreover, Lehmann's clear and accessible language make it a pleasure to read, a pleasure which is further enhanced by the great number of photographs and picture which sometimes give the book the appearance of a family album. ( )