The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life

Virginia Woolf was already an accomplished novelist and critic when she was commissioned by the British edition of Good Housekeeping to write a series entitled "Six Articles on London Life." Originally published bimonthly beginning in December 1931 five of the essays were eventually collected and published in 1981. The sixth essay "Portrait of a Londoner " had been missing from Woolfs oeuvre until it was rediscovered at the University of Sussex in 2004. Ecco is honored to publish the complete collection in the United States for the first time. A walking tour of Woolfs beloved hometown The London Scene begins at the London Docks and follows Woolf as she visits several iconic sites throughout the city including the Oxford Street shopping strip John Keatss house on Hampstead Heath Thomas Carlyles house in Chelsea St. Pauls Cathedral Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. These six essential essays capture Woolf at her best exploring modern consciousness through the prism of 1930s London while simultaneously painting an intimate touching portrait of this sprawling metropolis and its fascinating inhabitants.