Description
Violet Trefusis by Philippe Jullian and John Phillips is a meticulously researched biography of Violet Trefusis, a gifted writer and remarkable figure best known for her passionate affair with Vita Sackville-West, first revealed in Portrait of a Marriage. Tracing Violet’s life from her romantic childhood—her mother, Alice Keppel, being mistress to King Edward VII—through her expatriate years immersed in international society and the arts, to her death in Florence in 1972, the book offers a rich exploration of her literary and social life. Key themes include love, desire, creativity, and the social constraints of early 20th-century Europe. A supplement of correspondence between Violet and Vita provides intimate insight into their enduring, complex relationship, with Violet’s letters revealing the depth of her feelings and Vita’s later letters attesting to a love that persisted despite time and circumstance.
This biography will appeal to readers of literary history, LGBTQ+ studies, and early 20th-century European society, offering both factual depth and human nuance.
