Hyde Park Gate News

Book excerpt: As children, Virginia Woolf, elder sister Vanessa Bell, and brother Thoby, collaborated on their very own newspaper, recording the day-to-day events of the family home, 22 Hyde Park Gate. They called the paper 'Hyde Park Gate News', and the original manuscripts are published here for the first time. Ingeniously mimicking the style of the leading newspapers of their day, the Stephen children present a charming and candid portrayal of life in London and at their holiday home in St Ives. Gossipy, playful and at times irreverent, they record the comings and goings of a host of figures - George Meredith and Henry James among them - whilst also proffering their own fictional and poetic creations. Not only a delightful account of childhood, Hyde Park Gate News also gives a unique insight into the early years of some of the most fascinating figures of the twentieth century whilst revealing the events that inspired and shaped Woolf's apprenticeship in writing.