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All Passion Spent

All Passion Spent

A charming extraordinary early 20th century novel about family relationships.

When the great statesman Lord Slane dies, everyone assumes his dutiful wife will slowly fade away, the paying guest of each of her six children. But Lady Slane surprises everyone by escaping to a rented house in Hampstead where she revels in her new freedom, revives youthful ambitions and gathers some very unsuitable companions. Irreverent, entertaining and insightful, this is a tale of the unexpected joys of growing older.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOANNA LUMLEY

Reviews

  • All Passion Spent tells the marvellously cheering story of how, in widowhood, a conventional woman is finally able to defy her family

    Guardian

  • Heartening

    Observer

  • Inspiring... Old age can be celebrated, not feared

    Sunday Telegraph

  • Every page of this novel is a pleasure to read

    The Times

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About the Author

Vita Sackville-West

Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) was born at Knole in Kent, the only child of aristocratic parents. In 1913 she married diplomat Harold Nicolson, with whom she had two sons and travelled extensively. They had an unconventional marriage, and troughout her life Sackville-West had a number of other relationships with both men and women. She wrote novels, non-fiction, and poetry, including The Land (1926), which won the Hawthorden Prize.

Vita Sackville-West

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Features

Virginia Woolf’s (not so) secret lesbian relationship – in her own words

Who to write better love letters than two wordsmiths? A new collection of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West's letters contains hidden depths and joys, says its editor Lily Lindon.

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