English Masterworks Library / Orlando - A Biography

Orlando starts his journey as a young nobleman in the court of Elizabeth I, destined for a life of privilege and poetic pursuit. But Orlando’s life is unlike any other. As the centuries pass, Orlando does not grow old; instead, he undergoes a mysterious transformation, waking up one morning in Constantinople as a woman. Spanning three centuries of English history, from the muddy streets of the Renaissance to the roaring energy of the 1920s, Orlando is a dazzling, time-traveling odyssey. Through the eyes of a protagonist who lives as both man and woman, Virginia Woolf explores the fluid nature of identity, the constraints of gender, and the eternal search for the "wild goose" of truth. Originally written as a "love letter" to Vita Sackville-West, this novel is a masterpiece of wit, imagination, and stylistic brilliance. It remains one of the most provocative and enchanting works in the history of the English language. A breathtaking celebration of life, art, and the freedom to be oneself