Books by Hermione Lee

Her brilliant, disturbing fiction shows her deep understanding of the longing and struggle in women's lives. This masterly new biography draws on new material and delves into every aspect of Wharton's extraordinary life-story.

Take a stroll through London with Virginia Woolf as your guide in this beautifully illustrated book. Virginia Woolf relished any opportunity for a stroll around London. She found great pleasure in observing the city and its people - noticing the subtle details that others often miss. In this collection of stunning essays, Woolf gives us an intimate tour of her beloved hometown. We venture through unfamiliar pockets of London and revisit its most famous landmarks; we smell the salty air of the East End docks and hear the echoing sounds inside the Houses of Parliament; Woolf transports us to the bustle of Oxford Street and the more peaceful moments on Hampstead Heath. Originally published bi-monthly in 1931 by Good Housekeeping, the essays in The London Scene exhibit Virginia Woolf at the height of her literary powers and present an unparalleled and meditative portrait of an extraordinary metropolis - capturing the London of the 1930s and also the eternal city we recognise today. 'While it might not list the hottest restaurants and the newest boutique hotels, The London Scene gives us an amalgam of intelligence and beauty that few, if any, guidebooks provide.' - Francine Prose '1930s London comes alive in these six evocative essays . . . a discerning, affectionate tour of her beloved city.' - Washington Post

Looks at how biography deals with myths and legends, what goes missing and what can't be proved in the story of a life. This book presents a variety of case-studies, in which literary biographers are faced with gaps and absences, stories and ambiguities surrounding their subjects.

Winner of the James Tait Black Prize for Biography 2014Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best BiographyNew York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the YearPenelope Fitzgerald (1916-2000) was a great English writer, who would never have described herself in such grand terms.

A collection of essays communicating the problems of reading and writing biography. The title explores the relationship between biography and fiction.

Hermione Lee sees Virginia Woolf afresh, in her historical setting and as a vital figure for our times. It is a writer's life, illustrating how the concerns of her work arise and develop, and a political life, which establishes Woolf as a radically sceptical, subversive, courageous feminist.