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This is a powerful memoir from the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson, chronicling life with her gay father Ben, holidays at Sissinghurst, her reckless youth, and the tragic loss of her 19-year-old daughter Rosa.
Vanessa Nicolson is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. She was born to an illustrious name and an unhappy marriage. Her father, the art historian Ben Nicolson, was homosexual and his marriage to Vanessa's Italian mother fell apart when Vanessa was very young. In this powerful and meditative memoir she chronicles her disjointed childhood and reckless youth, including holidays at Sissinghurst Castle with her cousins, and her experience of a liberal English boarding school. Interlinked with her story is that of her daughter Rosa, who died, aged 19. This book is a meditation on the threads of love and loss that weave through a life and an examination of the meaning of cultural privilege in the context of emotional deprivation.
Author: Vanessa Nicolson.
Paperback, 311 Pages, Orig. Published 2015, This Edition Published April 2016