Three of us, Jane, Tappan and I, went on a quest on Sunday. The storytelling course took a break for the weekend, so we got off-campus in Jane's car. Woolf is Tappan's favorite writer and he had researched where she lived and wrote and created. Not far from here, as it turns out.
This picture is Woolf's writing hut. It's on the grounds of the garden at her house, Monk's House, in Rodmell. She had a lovely view of the South Downs from her writing desk. I tried to get a picture of her desk, but my camera wouldn't take through the glass.
Her sister's house was not far away, and between the two of them and all of the people who were in and out at various times, they led quite a bohemian lifestyle. They all came to be known as the Bloomsbury Group, an influential group of intellectuals, writers, artists and philosophers.
The houses were remote and quiet, and sanctuaries of creativity, away from the city and noise. The economist John Maynard Keynes wrote at least one of his books there. Every surface of both houses was painted or adorned in some way: hand-painted wallpaper and tables, all kinds of ceramics, paintings, sculptures, even fabric designs which are still commercially available.
And that is the extent of what I know about the Bloomsbury group! But can you imagine the fascinating discussions that must have taken place there.
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