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Rural Hours
Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann | Harriet Baker
8 posts | 1 read | 8 to read
1917. Virginia Woolf arrives at Asheham, on the Sussex Downs, immobilized by nervous exhaustion and creative block. 1930. Feeling jittery about her writing career, Sylvia Townsend Warner spots a modest workman's cottage for sale on the Dorset coast. 1941. Rosamond Lehmann settles in a Berkshire village, seeking a lovers' retreat, a refuge from war, and a means of becoming 'a writer again'. Rural Hours tells the story of three very different women, each of whom moved to the country and were forever changed by it. We encounter them at quiet moments - pausing to look at an insect on the windowsill; jotting down a recipe; or digging for potatoes, dirt beneath their nails. Slowly, we start to see transformations unfold. Invigorated by new landscapes, and the daily trials and small pleasures of making homes, they emerge from long periods of creative uncertainty and private disappointment; they embark on new experiments in form, in feeling and in living. In the country, each woman finds her path: to convalescence and recovery; to sexual and political awakening; and, above all, to personal freedom and creative flourishing. Graceful, fluid, and enriched by previously untouched archival material, Rural Hours is both a paean to the bravery and vision of three pioneering writers, and a passionate invitation to us all: to recognize the radical potential of domestic life and rural places, and find new enchantment in the routines and rituals of each day.
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AnneCecilie
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A look into the country life of the British authors, Virginia Wolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosalind Lehmann

Most of the time is spent with Wolf, starting in 1917 as she recovers from illness. This was a quiet time in her life and since the notes from this period is different from the ones she made before and after, they are usually excluded by biographies. So I found this period interesting.

I hadn‘t heard about Warner and Lehmann before

AnneCecilie and they both went their own ways. Warner living with a woman and Lehmann twice divorced. I love reading about women that do what is right for them, even if these sections covered more time in the authors life. I‘m also thinking about reading some of their novels and short stories in the future because they sound interesting. 3mo
AnneCecilie @AllDebooks Tagging you since you expressed interest in my thoughts and I had some 😊 (edited) 3mo
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Sounds interesting 3mo
AllDebooks I can't wait to read this. I've added it to the #VirginiaBloomsnerries tbr list. Thanks fir the tag @AnneCecilie 😊 3mo
64 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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AnneCecilie
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#BookReport

I continued Dark Fire #ShardlakeBR and I finally started Unwell Women #SheSaid

I finished Confusion and Rural Hours

Then I went for all the shorter books and read Not a River, Our Wives Under the Sea and Clear

I‘ve started Little Rot

dabbe Excellent choices! 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
49 likes1 comment
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AnneCecilie
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#WeeklyForecast

An overly ambitious stack for my last staycation week. I don‘t think I‘ll get to every book, but there‘s some shorter ones here

I want to continue Dark Fire #ShardlakeBR and eventually start Unwell Women #SheSaid

I want to finish Rural Hours and Confusion

Crooked Plow is due back at the library on Tuesday so not sure I‘ll get to it. Then I just want to see which of the following I can get to; Not a River, Parade,

AnneCecilie Our Wives under the Sea, Clear, Little Rot and The Ghost Ship. 3mo
TheSpineView Enjoy your staycation! 3mo
sarahbarnes Have fun! 3mo
60 likes3 comments
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AnneCecilie
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#BookReport

I‘ve started Rural Hours and just started Dark Fire #ShardlakeBR

I finished James, read Blackouts and have started Confusion

AllDebooks Oooh, I'm looking forward to Rural hours. Let me know what you think. It's on the list for #VirginiaBloomsberries next year 😊 3mo
49 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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AnneCecilie
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I‘m sure I‘m not the only Litten who sees this as a perfect solution

Ruthiella Indeed! 😃 3mo
36 likes1 comment
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AnneCecilie
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Something else I didn‘t know, but will keep in mind when #VirginaBloomsberries is reading “Night and Day” in October

31 likes2 stack adds
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AnneCecilie
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I had no idea. Interesting before reading this novel with #VirginiaBloomsberries in August

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AnneCecilie
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#WeeklyForecast

I want to start Rural Hours and later in the week start Dark Fire #ShardlakeBR

I‘ve just started James and want to finish that, I also want to read Blackouts and get a good start on Confusion

Suet624 What a great stack! 4mo
42 likes1 comment