This volume, originally published in 1932, was the first critical study of Virginia Woolf in English. Holtby examines Woolf's work and contradictions in it, in addition to providing specific discussions of The Voyage Out, Night and Day, Jacob's Room, To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves, and essays The Mark on the Wall, Kew Gardens, and Monday or Tuesday. Holtby was a novelist, journalist, and social reformer. Shaw (English, Loughborough U., UK) has added a new preface, which includes context for Holtby's writing of the volume and Woolf's reception of it. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)