Do *not* read this slim book unless you're already familiar with Woolf -- her work, her life, and her family. This is a collection of several previously unpublished and unknown diary sketches Woolf wrote when she was 27. The introduction and accompanying notes are fascinating and valuable, but they *don't* serve as a good introduction to a notoriously difficult writer.

Also, don't expect much actual Woolf from this volume. Specifically, expect 16 pages out of about 70.

The reason it still gets four stars is that the supplementary material is brilliant and beautiful (Doris Lessing's introduction) or expert and adept (all those footnotes and other explanations).

If you're fascinated by Woolf's development as a writer and you've already read her fiction and essays and at least one biography, read this. I know that sounds snooty, but this is a pricy little book and you'll be bored out of your mind if you pick it up just for the heck of it. ( )

Essential early Woolf in a lovely little edition from Hesperus. But what a pity that so much of the introduction is spent apologising for the fact that Woolf's views of 100 years ago are not politically correct. Insulting to us readers who have enough intelligence to make our own judgements. ( )