ORLANDO: A BIOGRAPHY

Orlando: A Biography is a novel by British writer, VIRGINIA WOOLF, first published by HOGARTH PRESS in1928, inspired by the tumultuous family history of the aristocratic poet and novelist VITA SACKVILLE-WEST, Virginia Woolf's lover and close friend. It is a history of English literature in satiric form. The book describes the adventures of a poet who changes sex from man to woman and lives for centuries, meeting the key figures of English literary history. Considered a feminist classic, the book has been studied, researched and written about extensively by well-known scholars of women's writing and gender and transgender studies. The eponymous hero is born as a male nobleman in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. He lives for centuries, into modern times, without aging perceptibly, but undergoes a mysterious change of sex at the age of about 100. The novel has been adapted a number of times for stage and film.