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

by Nino Strachey

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982164775
Publisher:	Washington Square Press
Publication date:	08/01/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	667,153
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Nino Strachey is the last member of the Strachey family to have grown up at Sutton Court in Somerset, home of the family for more than three hundred years. After studying at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute, Nino worked as a curator for the National Trust and English Heritage. She is also the author of Rooms of Their Own. She lives in West London with her husband and child. Follow her on Twitter @NinoStrachey.

Table of Contents

Dramatis Personae ix

Introduction 1

1 Bloomsbury Comes Together

Finding Their Chosen Family, 1904-14 17

Dispersal, 1914-18 25

New Recruits 31

2 Bloomsbury Meets the Bright Young Things

Bloomsbury Reassembles, 1919-22 43

Young People from Oxford 51

Young People from Cambridge 59

Young Relations and Many More 67

3 Bloomsbury Parties

Playing Close to Home 77

Testing the Boundaries 85

Venturing Further Afield 91

Unexpected Outcomes 99

4 The Cult of the Effeminate

Mincing in Black Velvet 105

Painted Boys 111

Prince Charming 119

Shepherds and Shepherdesses 125

5 Cheerful Weather for the Wedding

The Persian Princess 135

Consensual Non-Monogamy 143

Finding Love at Ham Spray 149

Breaking Out in New Directions 157

6 Conversation and the Exchange of Ideas

The Cranium Club 169

Hearing Women's Voices 175

Sapphists and Hermaphrodites 183

7 The Coming Struggle for Power

Leading a Double Life 195

Atlantic Crossings 205

Honeymoon at the Villa America 213

A Changing World 219

Epilogue 227

Acknowledgments 237

Notes 241

Select Bibliography 263

Manuscript Sources 271

Text Permissions 273

Index 279

Editorial Reviews

This lively group biography offers an intimate glimpse of the Bright Young Things, the artistic coterie that emerged in the nineteen-twenties as successors to the prewar Bloomsburyites.” —The New Yorker

“This captivating history explores the second generation of queer British writers and artists who pushed the original Bloomsbury Group, which included Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, to live more publicly and go farther creatively.” —The New York Times

“There is much for Americans to learn from and celebrate in this lively account of Bloomsbury’s freethinking pioneers.” —Washington Post

“A brisk, light tonic. . . . [Strachey] provides frothy accounts of their gatherings. . . . For each rising generation there’s reason to illuminate again their particular, if fleeting, triumphs.” —Claire Mussud, Harper’s Magazine

“It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the story of Bloomsbury is the story of modern literary biography itself.” —Wall Street Journal

“In this sharp, thoughtful look at the group, their work, and its impact, Nino Strachey shines a light on cultural masterminds whose lives and work would change the world forever.” —Town & Country

“The author’s group portrait is both enlightening and fond...and does literature a great favor by gifting them with this fascinating account.” —Booklist

“Insightfully analyzes the substance of Bloomsbury’s social network, how their lives intertwined as a kind of queer chosen family, and how they adapted to heteronormative expectations while remaining true to their desires and identities...Written in lucid prose, this is a dream to read for those interested in queer history.” —Kirkus

“Illuminating... When it came to sex, the Bright Young Things of the 1920s were 100 years ahead of their time.” — Daily Mail (UK)



“A superb, sparky and reflective book charting the doings of the younger members of the artistic and intellectual coterie.” —The Spectator (UK)

From the Publisher

10/28/2022

The second-generation members of the legendary Bloomsbury Group take center stage in Strachey's (Rooms of Their Own) somewhat dizzying historical account. In the years before World War I, Virginia Woolf and her sister (the painter Vanessa Bell) joined a circle of artists and writers (including Lytton Strachey, to whom the author is related) in their Bloomsbury district home in central London. The group discussed sexual equality, freedom, and experimentation in private, but as they gained notoriety and influence by the 1920s, self-expression among the new postwar generation became more public—even as homosexuality remained illegal. At gender-blurring costume parties, queer young people found acceptance. These gatherings also rejuvenated the aging Bloomsbury set. The author was the last Strachey to grow up in her ancestral home of Sutton Court, and she draws on her family's history, archives, as well as papers in special collections to enhance her research. A much-needed list of "Dramatis Personae" is included to sort through these often-interconnected characters. VERDICT Bloomsbury Group devotees and readers of LGTBQ+ history will likely relish Strachey's unique perspective.—Denise Miller

Library Journal

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. Much of her focus is on those sexual relationships, so it is just as well not to overdramatize them, but the creative lives of the second generation in Bloomsbury deserve more, and more evocative, attention. With such a heavy emphasis on the physical and romantic entanglements of the characters, they sometimes become hard to keep sorted out, and some vocal characterization would have helped in keeping score. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

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. Much of her focus is on those sexual relationships, so it is just as well not to overdramatize them, but the creative lives of the second generation in Bloomsbury deserve more, and more evocative, attention. With such a heavy emphasis on the physical and romantic entanglements of the characters, they sometimes become hard to keep sorted out, and some vocal characterization would have helped in keeping score. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

2022-09-17
A queer history of the infamous Bloomsbury Group and their young acolytes.

In the 21st century, where ENM is used as an acronym for ethical nonmonogamy, it may be strange to think there was a time and place where people had to hide their sexual preferences and the people they loved. Of course, while much has changed for the better, so too has homophobia and discrimination been emboldened in recent years, especially against trans people. This is, in part, what motivated Strachey (a descendant of Bloomsbury’s own Lytton Strachey) to write this book. The author insightfully analyzes the substance of Bloomsbury’s social network, how their lives intertwined as a kind of queer chosen family, and how they adapted to heteronormative expectations while remaining true to their desires and identities. With short chapters written in lucid prose, this is a dream to read for those interested in queer history, and Strachey treats the colorful drama of her subject’s lives with tact. The most delightful surprise here is learning that some of the most beloved pillars of early 20th-century Anglophone culture—e.g., Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, and Lytton Strachey—were not above using their literary gifts for catty missives about their fellow creatives or paramours or roommates (or some magical commingling of all three categories). Queerness has been a social constant through the ages. What’s significant about this meeting of old and young Bloomsbury is how queer cultural knowledge has been exchanged from one generation to the next and how vital that transmission remains. A mistake the young make is assuming their antecedents have nothing left to contribute to an ever shifting present. On the contrary, the brilliant works produced by the luminaries of young Bloomsbury would not have happened without the nurture of old Bloomsbury. Strachey demonstrates this truth with aplomb.

This compact history proves that the lived experiences of our elders are essential resource for succeeding generations.

Kirkus Reviews