Recent news about Virginia Woolf connects her to the animal companion she held most dear — the dog.
First, there’s a book. Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edith Wharton and Emily Bronte features a photo of Woolf and one of her beloved cocker spaniels on the cover.
In the book, Adams, a psychologist and former English professor, tells the story of five exceptional women writers — including Woolf — who obtained emotional support from their canine pets. In Woolf’s case, Adams suggests that her depiction of a dog’s trauma in her biography Flush dealt with her own childhood molestation.
Adams’s argument may be skewed by its limited focus. But the tome, which Publisher’s Weekly calls a “sweet, quirky book” is still worth a look. Read a review.
Woof sighting
Then there’s a doggie daycare. Helen Southworth shared her latest find, a Web site advertising Virginia Woof Dog Daycare, with the Virginia Woolf Listserv.
A quote posted at the top of the Portland, Oregon, doggie daycare’s Web site leaves us no doubt about the Woof establishment’s intentional connection to Woolf. The quote from the author reads: “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”
[…] An earlier work discussing this topic is Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edi…. […]
[…] an entire chapter on the Woolfs and their dogs, take a look at Shaggy Muses by Maureen […]
[…] out his bio on this page. For last year’s installment on Woolf going to the dogs, click here. […]
Thank you for the reviews and lovely picture of St. Ives in Cornwall. Always a cat person, after acquiring a pomeranian, I now love dogs too and am happy that Virginia Woolf, a very special person and writer, did too.
Carol Hansen
Marin County, CA
Thanks for your comment and for sending the positive details about Woof Dog Daycare.
Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t provide a way to identify the header photo on Blogging Woolf, so I’m glad you asked about it. Your guess was a good one. It does picture St. Ives. I took the photo from the top of the hill that overlooks the white sandy beach of St. Ives as we walked from the train platform toward Talland House. Beautiful view, isn’t it? No wonder Woolf was in love with this place.
I’ll be posting more photos of St. Ives and other Woolf sites on the In Her Steps page.
You can also view some of them now. Just click here.
hi, i followed out the link on the VW listserv, being a dog person myself, and was pleased to find that V. Woof is a non-profit teaching at-risk kids a vocation. doggy day care was chosen for the purpose because at-risk kids have a real gift with animals. i think that rox.
can you tell me of what is your header photograph? st ives?