Young Bloomsbury

The Generation That Redefined Love, Freedom, and Self-Expression in 1920s England

By: Nino Strachey

Narrated by: Nino Strachey

An “illuminating” (Daily Mail, London) exploration of the second generation of the iconic Bloomsbury Group who inspired their elders to new heights of creativity and passion while also pushing the boundaries of sexual freedom and gender norms in 1920s England.

In the years before the First World War, a collection of writers and artists—Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, and Lytton Strachey among them—began to make a name for themselves in England and America for their irreverent spirit and provocative works of literature, art, and criticism. They called themselves the Bloomsbury Group and by the 1920s, they were at the height of their influence.

Then a new generation stepped forward—creative young people who tantalized their elders with their captivating looks, bold ideas, and subversive energy. Young Bloomsbury introduces us to this colorful cast of characters, including novelist Eddy Sackville-West, who wore elaborate make-up and dressed in satin and black velvet; artist Stephen Tomlin, who sculpted the heads of his male and female lovers; and author Julia Strachey, who wrote a searing tale of blighted love. Talented and productive, these larger-than-life figures had high-achieving professional lives and extremely complicated emotional lives.

The group had always celebrated sexual equality and freedom in private, feeling that every person had the right to live and love in the way they chose. But as transgressive self-expression became more public, this younger generation gave Old Bloomsbury a new voice. Revealing an aspect of history not yet explored and with “effervescent detail” (Juliet Nicolson, author of Frostquake), Young Bloomsbury celebrates an open way of living and loving that would not be embraced for another hundred years.

Critic reviews

"The younger members of the Bloomsbury group didn’t change the world as their elders did (Keynes, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf), but their sexual adventures laid the groundwork for our changing mores. Nino Strachey (yes, a relative of Lytton) delivers her own text with little drama but considerable clarity."

Excellent!

An amazing and intriguing book! A must for any reader of Virginia Woolf, Modernism or the lgbtq+ community.

Queer life in the twenties

I loved hearing the personal stories of all the Bloomsbury life characters, young and old. Nino Strachey did a good job of making the individuals come alive.

Numbing

For an avid Virginia Woolf student an Bloomsbury sampler these biographical bits make one’s head swim and emotions glaze over. My monogamous life is not titillated but dulled to numbness with these tales of relationship confetti.