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A Room of One's Own Paperback – April 4, 2012

by Virginia Woolf (Author)
2012 Reprint of Original 1929 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "A Room of One's Own" is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published in 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton College, two women's colleges at Cambridge University in October 1928. While this extended essay in fact employs a fictional narrator and narrative to explore women both as writers of and characters in fiction, the manuscript for the delivery of the series of lectures, titled "Women and Fiction", and hence the essay, are considered non-fiction. The essay is generally seen as a feminist text, and is noted in its argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy.
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  1. Print length
    114 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Lightning Source Inc
  4. Publication date
    April 4, 2012
  5. Dimensions
    5.75 x 0.25 x 8.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1614272778
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1614272779
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  1. Virginia Woolf

    Virginia Woolf

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    Virginia Woolf is now recognized as a major twentieth-century author, a great novelist and essayist and a key figure in literary history as a feminist and a modernist. Born in 1882, she was the daughter of the editor and critic Leslie Stephen, and suffered a traumatic adolescence after the deaths of her mother, in 1895, and her step-sister Stella, in 1897, leaving her subject to breakdowns for the rest of her life. Her father died in 1904 and two years later her favourite brother Thoby died suddenly of typhoid.

    With her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, she was drawn into the company of writers and artists such as Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry, later known as the Bloomsbury Group. Among them she met Leonard Woolf, whom she married in 1912, and together they founded the Hogarth Press in 1917, which was to publish the work of T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster and Katherine Mansfield as well as the earliest translations of Freud. Woolf lived an energetic life among friends and family, reviewing and writing, and dividing her time between London and the Sussex Downs. In 1941, fearing another attack of mental illness, she drowned herself.

    Her first novel, The Voyage Out, appeared in 1915, and she then worked through the transitional Night and Day (1919) to the highly experimental and impressionistic Jacob's Room (1922). From then on her fiction became a series of brilliant and extraordinarily varied experiments, each one searching for a fresh way of presenting the relationship between individual lives and the forces of society and history. She was particularly concerned with women's experience, not only in her novels but also in her essays and her two books of feminist polemic, A Room of One's Own (1929) and Three Guineas (1938).

    Her major novels include Mrs Dalloway (1925), the historical fantasy Orlando (1928), written for Vita Sackville-West, the extraordinarily poetic vision of The Waves (1931), the family saga of The Years (1937), and Between the Acts (1941). All these are published by Penguin, as are her Diaries, Volumes I-V, and selections from her essays and short stories.

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  2. Jenifer Smith

    Jenifer Smith

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
5,294 global ratings

Customers say

Customers praise Virginia Woolf's writing style, noting how it elevates their senses and provides profound insights into women's writing. The book is considered a must-read for women and important feminist literature, with one customer highlighting how it clearly sets out how patriarchal society affects women. Customers find the book enlightening and relevant, with one noting its historical significance as a time capsule. The pacing receives mixed reactions, with some describing it as a great piece of work while others find it tiring.

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Writing qualityThought provokingReadabilityFeminist themesPerspectiveRelevanceEnlightenednessPacing
34 customers mention "Writing quality"30 positive4 negative

Customers praise the writing quality of the book, noting that it elevates their senses and provides excellent insight into Virginia Woolf's work. One customer highlights how the articulate prose weaves compelling scenarios, while another mentions how it opened their mind to women writers.

"Beautifully written! Recommend to every young woman. Enlightening to those who wish to develop self thinking!..." Read more

"Extremely well written...." Read more

"Well written and thought provoking..." Read more

"...but it you have any little interest in women's studies, this writing is invigorating and wonderful." Read more

26 customers mention "Thought provoking"25 positive1 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and insightful, with one customer noting how the complex reasoning guides the narrative through every twist, while another appreciates how it serves as a fantastic reminder of societal factors.

"I would and I will read it again. Very thought provoking." Read more

"Woolf shows great insight of the patriarchal world we live in. If everyone were to read this book, the world would be a different place." Read more

"Thoughtful, erudite and witty. It read so smoothly -I wondered why I remembered Virginia Woolf as "difficult"?" Read more

"Well written and thought provoking..." Read more

23 customers mention "Readability"18 positive5 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, with several noting it is a must-read for women, though some mention it is a hard read.

"Beautifully read. The book is spectacular, and so timely." Read more

"This book is not only an enjoyable and fairly quick read, but it is also an important milestone in not only feminist literature, but literature as a..." Read more

"This is a must read for all women and more especially those men who claim interest in improving the lives and rights of women!" Read more

"So confusing, couldnt get throught it on the first read but will try again" Read more

14 customers mention "Feminist themes"14 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the feminist themes in the book, describing it as extremely important literature about equality and women's rights, with one customer noting how it clearly explains how patriarchal society affects women.

"I love this book; it's such an amazing book to read. Especially for women, I have read this book several times and I would recommend this book to..." Read more

"Early feminist thought. Worth comparing to today's thinking. she's a skilled writer. This is worth rereading." Read more

"...and fairly quick read, but it is also an important milestone in not only feminist literature, but literature as a whole...." Read more

"Virginia Woolf sets out, in her usual indomitable style, a treatise on early feminism...." Read more

10 customers mention "Perspective"10 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's perspective, with one noting its well-researched content and another highlighting how it helps understand women's history.

"...This book is certainly not for everyone, but it was an interesting perspective and certainly worth reading." Read more

"...has changed in nearly 100 years, this is still an important and insightful analysis." Read more

"...This is a book about Women and fiction. It is well researched and written with what I believe I can safely call a fanatical zeal. But gently...." Read more

"Women and men both will find Woolf’s observations illuminating and will spark needed conversations. Enthralling, beautiful and wise. Read it." Read more

7 customers mention "Relevance"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book relevant, with one customer noting that its ideas are still applicable today, while another appreciates it as a historical time capsule.

"An important book that lies the ground for a better understanding and more empathy of why women where left behind in writing but also in other..." Read more

"...They are, of course, deep, and still applicable...." Read more

"Even though so much has changed in nearly 100 years, this is still an important and insightful analysis." Read more

"Wonderful book and very important as a historical time capsule. Great intro to feminist literature and is not too long...." Read more

16 customers mention "Enlightenedness"11 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's enlightening content, with some finding it poignant and empowering, while others describe it as depressing.

"Some of the most wonderful text I have ever read. What a poetic soul. I wish that I could take her to the movies or fishing." Read more

"Another timeless classic by a brilliant, brave, wonderful woman, who sadly did not live long...." Read more

"I guess I'm just not a fan of Woolf's. I found it depressing and boring, the characters not very interesting. Very impersonal point of view." Read more

"...essay, Virginia Woolf was undoubtedly ahead of her time, shrewd, profound...." Read more

11 customers mention "Pacing"6 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book, with some finding it a great piece of work while others describe it as tiring and boring.

"Her writing is amazing! So well crafted, descriptive and the organization that she keeps throughout the book to make her points about women's..." Read more

"...I did not like her writing style at all with this one. Torture, to be honest with you. So boring. After a few pages I gave up...." Read more

"...Prose that once you get into the flow of things is very snappy and dry that can lead to the sort of humor that makes satire funny...." Read more

"...the way this book is structured and written is terribly boring and tiresome. I would never read anything from her again...." Read more

DO NOT READ THE FOREWORD
5 out of 5 stars
DO NOT READ THE FOREWORD
Awesome book but the foreword is completely misinterpreting Woolf. If you read the foreword before you read the actual book, the point of the book will fly over your head.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Carol Ann Emmons
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Read
    Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    In her vivid, well-articulated prose, Ms Woolf documents the disparities that have existed and continue to exist between the lives of men and women, the impact these disparities have on what is known about the women of the past and on the body of literature that is bereft of their contributions, and the importance of economic factors in freeing the mind to think and write authentically.
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  • Suko
    5.0 out of 5 stars Still Relevant and Important
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
    ~Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

    Virginia Woolf's very intense A Room Of One's Own, is actually a long essay she wrote "with ardour and conviction" on the the topic of women and fiction, that she prepared when asked to speak about this subject at women's colleges. A Room of One's Own was published in 1929, when young women were still discouraged from attending college (due to genuine fear that a good education would make women unfit for marriage and motherhood), and although it's not angry in tone the essay reflects a society in which severe limitations were put on women and their achievements. Virginia Woolf speaks about the creative process that lead to her talks, of her notebook in which she recorded a multitude of ideas, thoughts, and mental meanderings, and writes about the train of thought that led to her conclusion, that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction". In A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf grapples with what is exactly meant by women and fiction (not a simple matter), and demonstrates and expresses the complexity of her thought in her trademark stream-of-consciousness writing. Defying conventions of the time, she talks about the actual food served at the luncheon party, of the soles and partridges and potatoes, and of the importance of food to the artist in a more general sense. She discusses numerous things in this full, layered essay of her thoughts, among them a sense of loss due to the war which began in August of 1914, that changed the underlying current of life--previously filled with music and poetry, with romance--and of the special difficulties women artists face (still relevant today!). Her message is simple (though the means is not), that women must have money (a fixed income) and a room of their own (privacy) in order to have the freedom to create, luxuries that men may take for granted. She imagines Shakespeare's "sister", equal in talent and genius, but because of her sex, never writes a word, never expresses her genius, never lives to old age because she takes her own life in quiet desperation. Her essay is meant to encourage young women, to inspire them to create, as she's sympathetic to their plight. In A Room of One's Own,Virginia Woolf wants the limitations removed, and for women to have the same intellectual freedom that men have had for centuries, so that they, too, may express their genius.

    (This is a passage slightly modified from my blog about books, Suko's Notebook, suko95.blogspot.com, which I invite you to visit.)
    25 people found this helpful
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  • Susan A Radtke
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great gift
    Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Bought as a gift. Great book to share.
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  • L Anne
    5.0 out of 5 stars A timeless plea for equality -- a must-read
    Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Another timeless classic by a brilliant, brave, wonderful woman, who sadly did not live long. In her day, women were not even allowed a "room of their own" in their husband's house. Woolf wrote this piece to simply and bravely make the point that for a woman to write, she needed a quiet place to think. I doubt Virginia Woolf ever got the Room with a table and a chair and a door that could be closed, to shut out distractions, so that she could write. Despite these obstacles, she did write some brilliant novels. She simply did not survive an unfair, unequal life. This essay is Virginia Woolf's plea to the world, a plea for equality. Never succumb to the perils of inequality, try to be calm, clear-headed, and be brave :)
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  • Scott J. Pearson
    5.0 out of 5 stars We must continue to gain from women's minds
    Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Much as it’s hard to critique a William Shakespeare or a Mark Twain, it’s hard to critique Virginia Woolf. She pioneered women’s literature in the early twentieth century and helped lay its foundation for an incredibly successful, bustling marketplace in today’s world. Despite nagging misogyny, women writers receive deserved respect because of Woolf’s proposals to let women’s genius work. So in one sense, this book offers a distilled, timeless essay worthy of historical study for decades, if not centuries, to come.

    In another sense, this work needs urgent study for today’s politics. Will women’s social progress continue? Will women’s minds continue to bear fruit for us all? Or will we indulge in circular arguments about their social roles – or even their inherent capabilities? Machismo culture is still rampant in some circles, and in today’s newspapers, those circles seem to be expanding, not retracting.

    In this six-chapter essay, Woolf imagines what would have happened if Shakespeare had an equally brilliant sister. Would her brilliance had found its audience? Probably not due to social impediments. Wolf observed that such obstacles were decreasing the decades before 1929. Can women find meaningful tasks, which Woolf defines as a steady income and a “room of one’s own…” with a lock on it? She answered a resounding yes, and subsequent decades support her assertion.

    In the century-or-so since Woolf’s essay, most Western societies have invested, albeit imperfectly, in women’s independence. We all have benefitted substantially from their social contributions that extend beyond caretaking and housekeeping. Yet women and men still waste too much energy fighting each other about their own social places, whether a domestic life is superior or inferior to a working life. Recently, many have rediscovered Woolf’s allusion to Coleridge’s “androgynous mind” in the form of gender fluidity. Perhaps reproductive roles isn’t as all-encompassing as some make them out to be; perhaps the reality of our lives is a lot more interesting than mere sex.

    Therefore, this book is at once both a historical capsule and a living classic. As a man, it helped me further understand women’s history and the choices women in my life still face. As we approach its 100th anniversary, I humbly suggest it should still be read and pondered. Woolf broke a lot of barriers and earned a prominent place in history. Less obviously but more acutely, she can keep earning that place if we take the time to read this short work.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • aria b.
    3.0 out of 5 stars good book though the quality isn't
    Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    i like to annotate my books but the page is so thin the ink bleeds through...
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Eylül Özbek
    5.0 out of 5 stars 😊😍
    Reviewed in Turkey on March 13, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    This book is very good. You should read it.
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  • こーいち
    4.0 out of 5 stars A Room of One's Own
    Reviewed in Japan on September 30, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    バージニアウルフの作品ということで、期待して読みました。シェイクスピアに妹がいたというおもしろい着眼点に興味深く読んでいます。ただ、内容（語い）が難しく、なかなか進みません。
    Report
  • Mariana
    5.0 out of 5 stars genial
    Reviewed in Brazil on March 17, 2025
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    genia
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  • Dania
    5.0 out of 5 stars Maravilloso libro. Wonderful book.
    Reviewed in Mexico on September 21, 2021
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    Es una edición muy sencilla, pero este libro no necesita más flores ni ediciones especiales para poder ser apreciado. Tiene letra de buen tamaño y tiene un tamaño práctico.
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  • Douglas Estey
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best thing I’ve read
    Reviewed in Canada on February 2, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Writing is superb, as expected, a truly inspiring learning experience.
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