A review by emtobiasz
Adeline: A Novel of Virginia Woolf by Norah Vincent

3.0

Adeline is the fictionalized biography of Virginia Woolf, focusing on her inner life and relationship with friends and family in the period when she wrote many of her novels, 1924-1941.I really like the Woolf novels that I've read, including several the book highlights, but I have more mixed feelings about this book. Adeline reads as if it were written in Woolf's style, and Vincent obviously did her research related to Woolf's relationships and life events. This research is blended into many of the internal monologues and conversations the character of Virginia has in the book, but the information sometimes felt awkwardly inserted. Those moments when I felt like Vincent inserted some point of backstory because she needed it there and not because it fit into the conversation really threw me out of the narrative, and I had trouble finding my way back in. I liked the way the point of view did not stay with Virginia all the time, and other characters would point out her flaws and make her more human than the mad-genius narrative sometimes allows.

My interest has been piqued enough to research more about Woolf's life and the rest of the Bloomsbury Group, but I think I'll look for nonfiction titles this time. I'm not sure who I would recommend this book to-- perhaps someone who had read a novel or two by Woolf and wants to learn more about her, but isn't interested in a biography.