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Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury
In 1934, a sickly marmoset named Mitz came into the care of Leonard and Virginia Woolf. After nursing her back to health, Leonard was rarely seen without the monkey on his shoulder. Mitz moved with the Woolfs between their homes in London and Sussex. She developed her own special relationships with the family's cocker spaniels and with the various members of the Woolfs' circle, including T. S. Eliot and Vita Sackville-West. Mitz also played a vital role in helping the Woolfs escape a close call with Nazis in Germany just before World War II.
Blending letters, diaries, and memoirs, Sigrid Nunez reconstructs Mitz's life, painting it against the backdrop of Bloomsbury in its twilight years. Tender, affectionate, and filled with humor, this novel offers a striking look at lives shadowed by war, death, and mental illness, as well as the happiness and productivity the creature inspired. A new edition, now with an afterword by Peter Cameron.
Blending letters, diaries, and memoirs, Sigrid Nunez reconstructs Mitz's life, painting it against the backdrop of Bloomsbury in its twilight years. Tender, affectionate, and filled with humor, this novel offers a striking look at lives shadowed by war, death, and mental illness, as well as the happiness and productivity the creature inspired. A new edition, now with an afterword by Peter Cameron.
172 pages, Paperback
First published April 21, 1998
85 people are currently reading
1,668 people want to read
About the author
Sigrid Nunez
26books1,620followersSigrid Nunez has published seven novels, including A Feather on the Breath of God, The Last of Her Kind, Salvation City, and, most recently, The Friend. She is also the author of Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag. Among the journals to which she has contributed are The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Paris Review, Threepenny Review, Ჹ’s, ѳɱԱ’s, Tin House, and The Believer. Her work has also appeared in several anthologies, including four Pushcart Prize volumes and four anthologies of Asian American literature.
Sigrid’s honors and awards include a Whiting Writer’s Award, a Berlin Prize Fellowship, and two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters: the Rosenthal Foundation Award and the Rome Prize in Literature. She has taught at Columbia, Princeton, Boston University, and the New School, and has been a visiting writer or writer in residence at Amherst, Smith, Baruch, Vassar, and the University of California, Irvine, among others. In spring, 2019, she will be visiting writer at Syracuse University. Sigrid has also been on the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers� Conference and of several other writers� conferences across the country. She lives in New York City.
Sigrid’s honors and awards include a Whiting Writer’s Award, a Berlin Prize Fellowship, and two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters: the Rosenthal Foundation Award and the Rome Prize in Literature. She has taught at Columbia, Princeton, Boston University, and the New School, and has been a visiting writer or writer in residence at Amherst, Smith, Baruch, Vassar, and the University of California, Irvine, among others. In spring, 2019, she will be visiting writer at Syracuse University. Sigrid has also been on the faculty of the Bread Loaf Writers� Conference and of several other writers� conferences across the country. She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 212 reviews
July 22, 2019
FIVE CHARMING STARS
I doubt I would ever have come across (much less read) this tender little gem of a book. Many, many thanks to Soft Skull Press for sending me a copy to review! I loved Nunez's National Book Award winner and I love this one even more.
“� still views writing the way Edna O’Brien characterized it, as a lifelong vocation akin to being a nun or a priest.� � NY Times
Much like Nunez herself, the Woolfs devoted themselves to writing. They were unable to have children and were prone to adopting all kinds of pets, relatives, friends and fellow writers. Their pets were treated as dear family members and they took them on travels all over Europe. This included a tiny marmoset named Mitz.
Nunez has said that is 90% non-fiction. It is an intimate look at the personal world of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, as seen through the eyes of their pet monkey. But, don't take that the wrong way, because it isn't a silly book.
Mitz was hopelessly in love with Leonard and more than a bit jealous of Virginia. I fell in love, myself, with Mitz while reading of her adventures. Her walkabouts tucked into Leonard's pocket, Mitz carefully grooming the pet spaniel, ahhh she was precious! ( And, unfortunately, really messy according to some friends).
Nunez went through countless letters and journals from the Woolfs and developed a seemingly authentic account of the writers� lives.
The stories combine into a glimpse of Leonard’s frailty, Virginia’s impending madness and the intense love they felt for one another. The world events that shaped their lives are ever present.
I was fascinated and charmed by this book. The words have an authentic feel, a spare, confessional style.
For fans of Virginia Woolf, The Bloomsbury group. And especially if you loved , you will fall in love with this tiny, powerful story. Set for a new paperback release soon.
I doubt I would ever have come across (much less read) this tender little gem of a book. Many, many thanks to Soft Skull Press for sending me a copy to review! I loved Nunez's National Book Award winner and I love this one even more.
“� still views writing the way Edna O’Brien characterized it, as a lifelong vocation akin to being a nun or a priest.� � NY Times
Much like Nunez herself, the Woolfs devoted themselves to writing. They were unable to have children and were prone to adopting all kinds of pets, relatives, friends and fellow writers. Their pets were treated as dear family members and they took them on travels all over Europe. This included a tiny marmoset named Mitz.
Nunez has said that is 90% non-fiction. It is an intimate look at the personal world of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, as seen through the eyes of their pet monkey. But, don't take that the wrong way, because it isn't a silly book.
Mitz was hopelessly in love with Leonard and more than a bit jealous of Virginia. I fell in love, myself, with Mitz while reading of her adventures. Her walkabouts tucked into Leonard's pocket, Mitz carefully grooming the pet spaniel, ahhh she was precious! ( And, unfortunately, really messy according to some friends).
Nunez went through countless letters and journals from the Woolfs and developed a seemingly authentic account of the writers� lives.
The stories combine into a glimpse of Leonard’s frailty, Virginia’s impending madness and the intense love they felt for one another. The world events that shaped their lives are ever present.
I was fascinated and charmed by this book. The words have an authentic feel, a spare, confessional style.
For fans of Virginia Woolf, The Bloomsbury group. And especially if you loved , you will fall in love with this tiny, powerful story. Set for a new paperback release soon.
July 17, 2019
I must begin this review by saying how ignorant I feel.....
AND...
THIS BOOK WAS SIGNIFICANTLY PERSONAL & SPECIAL....THIS WAS THE PERFECT BOOK for me - at the right time.
Although.... I can’t help it wonder if I read this 10 years ago....might it have set my reading off to a different direction.
Here’s what happened for me in this wonderful - 150 pages - thin orange-colored book with a little photo of ‘Mitz�....The Marmoset of Bloomsbury...
I FELL IN LOVE WITH VIRGINIA WOOLF - her husband LEONARD.... their cocker spaniel, *Pinka*....other family members and friends to Leonard and Virginia....
AND.....
I’ve never even read a book ( YET?/!!!!!!), by Virginia Woolf. Been meaning to for years!
I certainly had no idea who ‘The Boomsbury Group� was.
‘The Boomsbury Group� - set - or society - was a group of associates English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century.
They include Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E.M. Forster, and Lynn Strachey., T.S. Eliot, Vita Sackville-West, and Virginia’s sister: Vanessa Bell.
They were a collective of friends and relatives that were closely related to the University of Cambridge. Their works and outlook influenced literature, aesthetics, criticism, economics, feminism, pacifism, and sexuality.
Having loved “The Friend�, by Sigrid Nunez, I said yes, enthusiastically when offered this book by Soft Skull Publishing. Thrilled I did....Thank you, Zoe!
Now....more about this story....
The year was 1934....
Leonard and Virginia Woolf drove from their house in London to Cambridge to visit their friends Barbara and Victor Rothschild.....enjoy dinner and congratulate them on Barbara’s pregnancy.
The young couple owned a pet marmoset named *Mitz*...who originally came from South America...but Victor found her in a junk shop.
Mitz wasn’t very healthy. It was thought she had rickets. She was so tiny she could fit in the palm of your hands and her head was no larger than a walnut.
The Woolf’s lived at Tavistock Square. They also had a house in the country....in the village of Rodmell, Sussex....( about a 2 hour drive between homes). They also had a servant, Mabel Haskin...who cooked, cleaned, and did their shopping so that both Virginia and Leonard could focus on their reading and writing.
I WAS FEELING JEALOUS! Lol.....wishing for a Mabel! Ha!
I loved reading about Leonard and Virginia’s basic routine schedules....which seldom varied. Every morning around 9:30 AM Leonard always served Virginia breakfast in bed. Then they went to their separate rooms to write until 1 PM. At that time they join together for lunch. Sometimes a friend would join - like Vanessa, Virginia’s sister.... or any other one of the Bloomsbury clan.
Afternoons were usually devoted to typing and revisiting their mornings work and if the weather was fine Virginia took long walks.
Virginia inherited her passion for walking along with literature.... both from her father.
People who know me - can understand my enjoyment reading about ‘both’Leonard and Virginia’s walking passion. I was hanging onto every ‘step� description.
Just yesterday...I walked from my house to Santana Row.
Anyone who knows my area....knows that’s a long walk one way...let alone a return trip home. ( my treat ...was having lunch at Pluto’s and buying myself a new Waterproof Kindle at the Amazon book store)....
I could talk about this little book for TOO long....
.....It only takes a few hours to read.....
.....I’m embarrassed- more than you know - but thankful to have had my first learning introduction about Virginia Woolf...Leonard... a glimpse into their marriage....their books... their passions... Virginia’s depression and health frailty....her dog *Flush*... which a biography was written by Virginia Woolf in 1933. I WANT TO READ IT ....and other books by Woolf now more than ever.....and I thought about other famous animals in literature.
......It was beautiful reading about the immediate bond between *Mitz* and Leonard...and how he nursed her back to health. It was also fascinating reading how *Mitz* helped the Woolf’s escape a close call with the Nazis during a trip to Germany just before the outbreak of World War II.
I was also touched by the pet names Virginia and Leonard called each other.
I would have loved to know this couple....@ their friends. I’m a little sad that I’ve not read any of their books - Leonard or Virginia. I hope to change that this year.
.....I was sincerely moved by this book. I’m definitely a fan of Sigrid Nunez, now!!. I really need to thank her for the education I got from this little book while totally being charmed and touched by her lovely writing.
The ending is sad....be warned. I felt that sadness. ....
I felt a combination of gratitude and sadness again reading the wonderful ‘AFTERWORD�, by Peter Cameron ( written in 2019). Until his words ....I never knew how Virginia Woolf died.
NOTE.... I highly recommend this book for any reader, who like me, knew very little about Virginia Woolf. Your eyes will be opened.
I also think most readers will find this book entertaining- and very heartfelt.
Big Hugs of thanks to Zoe and Soft Skull Publishing for this treasured gift.
AND...
THIS BOOK WAS SIGNIFICANTLY PERSONAL & SPECIAL....THIS WAS THE PERFECT BOOK for me - at the right time.
Although.... I can’t help it wonder if I read this 10 years ago....might it have set my reading off to a different direction.
Here’s what happened for me in this wonderful - 150 pages - thin orange-colored book with a little photo of ‘Mitz�....The Marmoset of Bloomsbury...
I FELL IN LOVE WITH VIRGINIA WOOLF - her husband LEONARD.... their cocker spaniel, *Pinka*....other family members and friends to Leonard and Virginia....
AND.....
I’ve never even read a book ( YET?/!!!!!!), by Virginia Woolf. Been meaning to for years!
I certainly had no idea who ‘The Boomsbury Group� was.
‘The Boomsbury Group� - set - or society - was a group of associates English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century.
They include Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E.M. Forster, and Lynn Strachey., T.S. Eliot, Vita Sackville-West, and Virginia’s sister: Vanessa Bell.
They were a collective of friends and relatives that were closely related to the University of Cambridge. Their works and outlook influenced literature, aesthetics, criticism, economics, feminism, pacifism, and sexuality.
Having loved “The Friend�, by Sigrid Nunez, I said yes, enthusiastically when offered this book by Soft Skull Publishing. Thrilled I did....Thank you, Zoe!
Now....more about this story....
The year was 1934....
Leonard and Virginia Woolf drove from their house in London to Cambridge to visit their friends Barbara and Victor Rothschild.....enjoy dinner and congratulate them on Barbara’s pregnancy.
The young couple owned a pet marmoset named *Mitz*...who originally came from South America...but Victor found her in a junk shop.
Mitz wasn’t very healthy. It was thought she had rickets. She was so tiny she could fit in the palm of your hands and her head was no larger than a walnut.
The Woolf’s lived at Tavistock Square. They also had a house in the country....in the village of Rodmell, Sussex....( about a 2 hour drive between homes). They also had a servant, Mabel Haskin...who cooked, cleaned, and did their shopping so that both Virginia and Leonard could focus on their reading and writing.
I WAS FEELING JEALOUS! Lol.....wishing for a Mabel! Ha!
I loved reading about Leonard and Virginia’s basic routine schedules....which seldom varied. Every morning around 9:30 AM Leonard always served Virginia breakfast in bed. Then they went to their separate rooms to write until 1 PM. At that time they join together for lunch. Sometimes a friend would join - like Vanessa, Virginia’s sister.... or any other one of the Bloomsbury clan.
Afternoons were usually devoted to typing and revisiting their mornings work and if the weather was fine Virginia took long walks.
Virginia inherited her passion for walking along with literature.... both from her father.
People who know me - can understand my enjoyment reading about ‘both’Leonard and Virginia’s walking passion. I was hanging onto every ‘step� description.
Just yesterday...I walked from my house to Santana Row.
Anyone who knows my area....knows that’s a long walk one way...let alone a return trip home. ( my treat ...was having lunch at Pluto’s and buying myself a new Waterproof Kindle at the Amazon book store)....
I could talk about this little book for TOO long....
.....It only takes a few hours to read.....
.....I’m embarrassed- more than you know - but thankful to have had my first learning introduction about Virginia Woolf...Leonard... a glimpse into their marriage....their books... their passions... Virginia’s depression and health frailty....her dog *Flush*... which a biography was written by Virginia Woolf in 1933. I WANT TO READ IT ....and other books by Woolf now more than ever.....and I thought about other famous animals in literature.
......It was beautiful reading about the immediate bond between *Mitz* and Leonard...and how he nursed her back to health. It was also fascinating reading how *Mitz* helped the Woolf’s escape a close call with the Nazis during a trip to Germany just before the outbreak of World War II.
I was also touched by the pet names Virginia and Leonard called each other.
I would have loved to know this couple....@ their friends. I’m a little sad that I’ve not read any of their books - Leonard or Virginia. I hope to change that this year.
.....I was sincerely moved by this book. I’m definitely a fan of Sigrid Nunez, now!!. I really need to thank her for the education I got from this little book while totally being charmed and touched by her lovely writing.
The ending is sad....be warned. I felt that sadness. ....
I felt a combination of gratitude and sadness again reading the wonderful ‘AFTERWORD�, by Peter Cameron ( written in 2019). Until his words ....I never knew how Virginia Woolf died.
NOTE.... I highly recommend this book for any reader, who like me, knew very little about Virginia Woolf. Your eyes will be opened.
I also think most readers will find this book entertaining- and very heartfelt.
Big Hugs of thanks to Zoe and Soft Skull Publishing for this treasured gift.
August 6, 2019
Update: Today, August 6th 2019 - happy publication day for this novel.
There is so much I loved while reading this novel that it is difficult to know where to begin.
Perhaps I should state that for me, there are very few writers who can tell a story without side agendas getting in the way when it comes to the actual people who helped shape our world. Specifically the people who lived within the last couple of centuries: the scientists, artists, actors, inventors, musicians, sports heroes, reformers, and yes � definitely the writers � whose works reflect the time and pulse of our recent history.
In the haphazard scrimmage to the base-line of success, there are too many times when ethics and integrity are brushed aside to make room for the fast-paced thrill ride of innuendo, gossip, and other fabrications that result in what I call the Reality Show mentality of writing.
This novel is completely the opposite. Sigrid Nunez writes with thoughtfulness, accuracy, and definitely with integrity. While I read this story, I truly felt that I was experiencing life with Virginia and Leonard Woolf, their dogs, and their marmoset, Mitz. There is a noted absence of notoriety and scandal that I found very refreshing.
The Woolfs experienced some very sad and tragic times during their lives, and these are written about thoughtfully and compassionately without missing one heartbeat of the over-arching story itself. There are also some very funny moments and joyful ones. These may or may not result in laughs out loud or jumps for joy, depending on the reader.
Some readers may miss those moments altogether, because above all, Sigrid Nunez writes with such a subtle power that it is almost hypnotic. I felt drawn into the story she was telling without my own volition. To be more accurate, I was drawn in even despite my bias and misgivings. There is a seamlessness to how the author secured the threads that bound fact and fiction together. I could not help but feel awed, entranced, and charmed by this story.
With gratitude to Soft Skull Press for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of the re-publication of this novel, and to the author, Ingrid Nunez. Its publication date is August 06, 2019.
Personal note: Once upon a time, a little girl with the same name as I have, wanted a marmoset more than anything in the world. Her parents said no, and the little girl wondered if maybe among the cows, horses, geese, chickens, pigs, cats, and dogs . . . maybe marmoset had too many syllables to be allowed. I would like to think that if that little girl did get one eventually, she was smart enough to move to a climate where the marmoset could thrive and that perhaps she named it ‘Mitz�, just because.
There is so much I loved while reading this novel that it is difficult to know where to begin.
Perhaps I should state that for me, there are very few writers who can tell a story without side agendas getting in the way when it comes to the actual people who helped shape our world. Specifically the people who lived within the last couple of centuries: the scientists, artists, actors, inventors, musicians, sports heroes, reformers, and yes � definitely the writers � whose works reflect the time and pulse of our recent history.
In the haphazard scrimmage to the base-line of success, there are too many times when ethics and integrity are brushed aside to make room for the fast-paced thrill ride of innuendo, gossip, and other fabrications that result in what I call the Reality Show mentality of writing.
This novel is completely the opposite. Sigrid Nunez writes with thoughtfulness, accuracy, and definitely with integrity. While I read this story, I truly felt that I was experiencing life with Virginia and Leonard Woolf, their dogs, and their marmoset, Mitz. There is a noted absence of notoriety and scandal that I found very refreshing.
The Woolfs experienced some very sad and tragic times during their lives, and these are written about thoughtfully and compassionately without missing one heartbeat of the over-arching story itself. There are also some very funny moments and joyful ones. These may or may not result in laughs out loud or jumps for joy, depending on the reader.
Some readers may miss those moments altogether, because above all, Sigrid Nunez writes with such a subtle power that it is almost hypnotic. I felt drawn into the story she was telling without my own volition. To be more accurate, I was drawn in even despite my bias and misgivings. There is a seamlessness to how the author secured the threads that bound fact and fiction together. I could not help but feel awed, entranced, and charmed by this story.
With gratitude to Soft Skull Press for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of the re-publication of this novel, and to the author, Ingrid Nunez. Its publication date is August 06, 2019.
Personal note: Once upon a time, a little girl with the same name as I have, wanted a marmoset more than anything in the world. Her parents said no, and the little girl wondered if maybe among the cows, horses, geese, chickens, pigs, cats, and dogs . . . maybe marmoset had too many syllables to be allowed. I would like to think that if that little girl did get one eventually, she was smart enough to move to a climate where the marmoset could thrive and that perhaps she named it ‘Mitz�, just because.
July 18, 2019
This story centers around Mitz, a pet marmoset, that came to live with Leonard and Virginia Woolf (yes, those Woolfs) as they were pet sitting for friends of their, the Rothschilds. Upon their return, however, it seems it was settled that Mitz would stay on with the Woolfs, as she seemed to have made a permanent home in their hearts.
This is more than just a charming pet memoir of a unique pet � I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never known anyone, personally, who had a pet marmoset � but serves somewhat as a fictionalized memoir of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, both famous authors in their own right, as well as some of their literary, famous friends, as well as the looming war. Fortunately for this author, Sigrid Nunez (author of The Friend among others) having access to their journals, letters as well as memoirs, had me really feel as though I was observing all of these normal (for anyone who has a marmoset, anyway) everyday routines, traveling with them to visit friends, touring parts of Europe during dangerous years, this was just a delightful read on one hand, and on the other, a look into the years before a man obsessed with power began to sway more and more with his determination to rid his world of the objects of his hatred, those he determined to be “inferior� races.
Still, that is not the beauty of this story, this is about the bond between man and the animals they are drawn to, and what they get back in return. Last year I read Nunez’s ”The Friend� and loved watching the connection between the woman and the Great Dane, Apollo, which she became reluctantly responsible for after it’s owner’s death. That novel won the National Book Award, and deservedly so! There are some common themes here, chiefly the writing life, memories, friendship, and love - between people, with their pets, and even the bond between pets that grows. In this, I loved how devoted they were to Mitz, despite all of the reasons why life with a marmoset wouldn’t be ideal for the vast majority of people. I loved how lovingly this was written without being twee or dwelling in sentimentality.
A lovely reminder for me to find time to read at least Virginia Woolf, and I think I might begin with her fictionalized memoir-biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, Flush after reading this.
Originally published in the late 90’s, this new edition includes an Afterword by Peter Cameron, and a letter from Nigel Nicholson.
Pub Date: 06 Aug 2019
Many thanks to Zoe @ Soft Skull / Counterpoint Press for the ARC provided
This is more than just a charming pet memoir of a unique pet � I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never known anyone, personally, who had a pet marmoset � but serves somewhat as a fictionalized memoir of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, both famous authors in their own right, as well as some of their literary, famous friends, as well as the looming war. Fortunately for this author, Sigrid Nunez (author of The Friend among others) having access to their journals, letters as well as memoirs, had me really feel as though I was observing all of these normal (for anyone who has a marmoset, anyway) everyday routines, traveling with them to visit friends, touring parts of Europe during dangerous years, this was just a delightful read on one hand, and on the other, a look into the years before a man obsessed with power began to sway more and more with his determination to rid his world of the objects of his hatred, those he determined to be “inferior� races.
Still, that is not the beauty of this story, this is about the bond between man and the animals they are drawn to, and what they get back in return. Last year I read Nunez’s ”The Friend� and loved watching the connection between the woman and the Great Dane, Apollo, which she became reluctantly responsible for after it’s owner’s death. That novel won the National Book Award, and deservedly so! There are some common themes here, chiefly the writing life, memories, friendship, and love - between people, with their pets, and even the bond between pets that grows. In this, I loved how devoted they were to Mitz, despite all of the reasons why life with a marmoset wouldn’t be ideal for the vast majority of people. I loved how lovingly this was written without being twee or dwelling in sentimentality.
A lovely reminder for me to find time to read at least Virginia Woolf, and I think I might begin with her fictionalized memoir-biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, Flush after reading this.
Originally published in the late 90’s, this new edition includes an Afterword by Peter Cameron, and a letter from Nigel Nicholson.
Pub Date: 06 Aug 2019
Many thanks to Zoe @ Soft Skull / Counterpoint Press for the ARC provided
August 19, 2019
This is a short read, but a most refreshing one. It has been re-issued due to the success of Sigrid Nunez's National Book Award winning . Mitz shares several traits with that wonderful novel - it's another story about a bequeathed pet, and it also gives us an intriguing glimpse into the life of a writer.
The writers in question are Virginia and Leonard Woolf. On a visit to the Rothschilds, they encounter their pet marmoset, recently rescued by Victor from a junk shop. Mitz is is bad shape, her coat worn and patchy, but she immediately takes to Leonard. The Woolfs agree to babysit Mitz while their friends are on holiday and she quickly becomes a member of the family, an arrangement which is eventually made permanent. Mitz thrives under Leonard's care, spending most of the day nestled in his waistcoat. She can be fiercely jealous of Virginia, leaping onto Leonard's shoulder whenever he dares to show his wife affection. As the years pass, Mitz even mixes in literary circles, meeting the likes of Maynard Keynes and T.S. Eliot, to varying degrees of success. The dark shadow of World War II lies on the horizon, but Mitz never fails to inject a spark into her owners' days, even though Leonard is warned that the lifespan of a captive marmoset is short.
In less than 150 pages, Nunez gives us a valuable insight into the domestic lives of the Woolfs. Sourced from diaries, letters and memoirs, it feels utterly authentic - we learn so much about their marriage, about Virginia's health issues, her insecurities surrounding her writing, and Leonard's occasional flashes of temper. It paints a fascinating portrait of the Bloomsbury Set, describing the encouragement and inspiration they gave one another. Most of all, it tells us what kind of people the Woolfs were, through their devotion to their pets. A charming, delightful read.
Many thanks to Soft Skull Press for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.
The writers in question are Virginia and Leonard Woolf. On a visit to the Rothschilds, they encounter their pet marmoset, recently rescued by Victor from a junk shop. Mitz is is bad shape, her coat worn and patchy, but she immediately takes to Leonard. The Woolfs agree to babysit Mitz while their friends are on holiday and she quickly becomes a member of the family, an arrangement which is eventually made permanent. Mitz thrives under Leonard's care, spending most of the day nestled in his waistcoat. She can be fiercely jealous of Virginia, leaping onto Leonard's shoulder whenever he dares to show his wife affection. As the years pass, Mitz even mixes in literary circles, meeting the likes of Maynard Keynes and T.S. Eliot, to varying degrees of success. The dark shadow of World War II lies on the horizon, but Mitz never fails to inject a spark into her owners' days, even though Leonard is warned that the lifespan of a captive marmoset is short.
In less than 150 pages, Nunez gives us a valuable insight into the domestic lives of the Woolfs. Sourced from diaries, letters and memoirs, it feels utterly authentic - we learn so much about their marriage, about Virginia's health issues, her insecurities surrounding her writing, and Leonard's occasional flashes of temper. It paints a fascinating portrait of the Bloomsbury Set, describing the encouragement and inspiration they gave one another. Most of all, it tells us what kind of people the Woolfs were, through their devotion to their pets. A charming, delightful read.
Many thanks to Soft Skull Press for sending me a copy in exchange for a review.
November 8, 2020
I've never read a novel by Virginia Woolf or by Leonard Woolf. I knew they had an unusual though loving marriage, and I knew about the Bloomsbury set. I've read ABOUT the Woolfes, (or The Woolves, as their friends referred to them) in books and essays, but have never been motivated to learn more. Then Kindle had a sale ($1.99) and since I had read and enjoyed Nunez's "The Friend", I decided to take a chance.
What I got was a captivating little tale about a marmoset adopted by Leonard, adored by Virginia, and a source of amusement to their friends. I also got a look into their homes, their relationships, their writing habits, and even their health problems, mental and physical. I loved all of it, including the imagined journey of Mitz from a Brazilian rainforest to a shop in London, mistreated and starved and humiliated, until Leonard came along. It broke my heart, but at least she had a happy ending to her short life.
What I loved most about this short novel was the voice in which Sigrid Nunez chose to tell the tale. It was calm and matter of fact and perfectly conveyed the London world of the time, roughly 1935-1939, so I got a little history as well. I also got a new author to add to my list of must reads.
For me, right now, this book was a perfect escape.
What I got was a captivating little tale about a marmoset adopted by Leonard, adored by Virginia, and a source of amusement to their friends. I also got a look into their homes, their relationships, their writing habits, and even their health problems, mental and physical. I loved all of it, including the imagined journey of Mitz from a Brazilian rainforest to a shop in London, mistreated and starved and humiliated, until Leonard came along. It broke my heart, but at least she had a happy ending to her short life.
What I loved most about this short novel was the voice in which Sigrid Nunez chose to tell the tale. It was calm and matter of fact and perfectly conveyed the London world of the time, roughly 1935-1939, so I got a little history as well. I also got a new author to add to my list of must reads.
For me, right now, this book was a perfect escape.
November 24, 2020
I have been afraid of Virginia Woolf ever since I was made to read To the Lighthouse as an undergrad and could not make sense of it. I still have not overcome my resistance to reading any of her work. Yet, I have loved books that drew inspiration from her life such as Michael Cunningham’s The Hours. Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury is another such novel. It was pure delight.
In 1934, Leonard and Virginia Woolf dined at the home of their friends, Victor and Barbara Rothschild, where they met a sickly marmoset Victor had bought from a junk shop. Mitz took a liking to Leonard and slept in his lap, and that was the beginning of a special relationship between Mitz, a tiny monkey that hailed from Brazil, and the Woolfs.
In writing this fact-based fiction, Sigrid Nunez obtained materials from the Woolfs� diaries, letters and autobiographies, biographies, and the memoirs of their nephew, Quentin Bell. As in The Friend, Nunez wrote a successful story that celebrated the life-affirming bond between humans and animals. It was lovely to read how Leonard nursed Mitz back to health and how she returned the favor in a big way.
Oh the sweetness of how a tiny creature can win over the human heart! Because she was born in the tropics, Mitz was susceptible to cold weather; hence she was often safely stowed in the pocket of Leonard’s waistcoat. Poised on his shoulders, she surveyed the world. On Leonards’s shoulders Mitz attended meetings of the Bloomsbury Memoir Club...� Virginia, too, became very fond of Mitz. In true writer fashion, she imagined what Mitz would be thinking. Nunez described Virginia and Mitz thus: “Two nervous, delicate, wary females, one as relentlessly curious as the other. Both in love with Leonard - for both, he was their rock, their ‘inviolable centre.� They both were mischievous. They both had claws.�
Apart from its devotion to animals, the story captured the struggles and commitment of being a writer. Both Leonard and Virginia were very disciplined and prolific writers, and Mitz became accustomed to hearing the scratching of pen on paper. Virginia was very exacting as a writer and extremely harsh on herself. She was her own worst critic. The novel also offered a glimpse of the Bloomsbury group of which the Woolfs were a much respected, powerhouse couple. Needless to say, Mitz was an honorary member. She met literary greats like Elliot, Forster, Somerset Maugham, and Maynard Keynes. They discussed ‘beauty and goodness, truth and reality, art and friendship, religion and love.�
In the Afterword, Peter Cameron had this to say: ‘Both Nunez and Woolf make the leap from human mind to animal heart with gazelle-like certainty and grace.� I cannot say it any better.
Read Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury. At only 172 pages, it is a lovely gem, a perfect distraction for our turbulent days.
In 1934, Leonard and Virginia Woolf dined at the home of their friends, Victor and Barbara Rothschild, where they met a sickly marmoset Victor had bought from a junk shop. Mitz took a liking to Leonard and slept in his lap, and that was the beginning of a special relationship between Mitz, a tiny monkey that hailed from Brazil, and the Woolfs.
In writing this fact-based fiction, Sigrid Nunez obtained materials from the Woolfs� diaries, letters and autobiographies, biographies, and the memoirs of their nephew, Quentin Bell. As in The Friend, Nunez wrote a successful story that celebrated the life-affirming bond between humans and animals. It was lovely to read how Leonard nursed Mitz back to health and how she returned the favor in a big way.
Oh the sweetness of how a tiny creature can win over the human heart! Because she was born in the tropics, Mitz was susceptible to cold weather; hence she was often safely stowed in the pocket of Leonard’s waistcoat. Poised on his shoulders, she surveyed the world. On Leonards’s shoulders Mitz attended meetings of the Bloomsbury Memoir Club...� Virginia, too, became very fond of Mitz. In true writer fashion, she imagined what Mitz would be thinking. Nunez described Virginia and Mitz thus: “Two nervous, delicate, wary females, one as relentlessly curious as the other. Both in love with Leonard - for both, he was their rock, their ‘inviolable centre.� They both were mischievous. They both had claws.�
Apart from its devotion to animals, the story captured the struggles and commitment of being a writer. Both Leonard and Virginia were very disciplined and prolific writers, and Mitz became accustomed to hearing the scratching of pen on paper. Virginia was very exacting as a writer and extremely harsh on herself. She was her own worst critic. The novel also offered a glimpse of the Bloomsbury group of which the Woolfs were a much respected, powerhouse couple. Needless to say, Mitz was an honorary member. She met literary greats like Elliot, Forster, Somerset Maugham, and Maynard Keynes. They discussed ‘beauty and goodness, truth and reality, art and friendship, religion and love.�
In the Afterword, Peter Cameron had this to say: ‘Both Nunez and Woolf make the leap from human mind to animal heart with gazelle-like certainty and grace.� I cannot say it any better.
Read Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury. At only 172 pages, it is a lovely gem, a perfect distraction for our turbulent days.
October 2, 2019
The best word to describe this book is “delightful�. Signed Nunez has captured the love and loyalty between animal and owner beautifully. What makes this book even more enticing is that said animal is a marmoset and said owners are Leonard and Virginia Woolf.
Mitz the Marmoset takes us into the daily lives of the Woolf’s. I don’t tend to idolize movie stars, but I do idolize authors and their talent. To learn more about Virginia and her husband was definitely enlightening, as well as the references to some of their famous friends: T.S Elliott, Vita Sackville West.
I think this book would appeal to anyone who loves animals and their quirkiness and to anyone interested in learning more about an author’s life.
A quick, easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed!!
Mitz the Marmoset takes us into the daily lives of the Woolf’s. I don’t tend to idolize movie stars, but I do idolize authors and their talent. To learn more about Virginia and her husband was definitely enlightening, as well as the references to some of their famous friends: T.S Elliott, Vita Sackville West.
I think this book would appeal to anyone who loves animals and their quirkiness and to anyone interested in learning more about an author’s life.
A quick, easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed!!
July 21, 2019
When Virginia joked about how much she and Mitz had in common, she was right. Two nervous, delicate, wary females, one as relentlessly curious as the other. Both in love with Leonard � for both, he was their rock, their “inviolable centre�. They both were mischievous. They both had claws.
is a deceptively sweet and clever biography of the marmoset rescued by Leonard and Virginia Woolf, and by retracing the four and a half years that Mitz lived in their company, author Sigrid Nunez is able to describe both the intimate lives of the Woolfs and the events in the larger world as Europe is drawn inexorably into a second world war, without seeming to be a serious treatise on either subject. Although originally released in 1998, Mitz is being re-released in 2019 � presumably to capitalise on the popularity of Nunez's National Book Award-winning � and I am thankful that this near-forgotten gem has been resurrected for the public: both books cover similar themes, through the relatability of pet-human bonds, employing Nunez's deceivingly spare prose; fans of The Friend (as I am) ought to delight in Mitz (which I did). [Special thanks to Zoe @softskullpress for sending me a review copy.]
There has been much disagreement as to when Bloomsbury came into being (with some members of the group insisting that it never came into being at all). Was it in 1904, somewhere between 1912 and 1914, in 1920? Whenever Bloomsbury may truly have begun, there can be no disputing the fact that by the time Mitz arrived it was soon to end. (Leonard, looking back one day, would date the beginning of the end to the death of Lytton Strachey, in 1932.) But these twilight years were anything but dim. A world in decline it might be; it was still a world in which you could hear Eliot, Forster, and Virginia Woolf discussing James Joyce.
Mitz may have come to the Woolfs late in life, but she was present in their home to witness some important events: the last years of the Bloomsbury Group, the rise of fascism (“Did we tell you how the marmoset saved us from Hitler?�), the writing of important works by each of the Woolfs, and the devastating loss of family, friends, and a very special dog. It feels quite clever for Nunez to have used the concept of a biography of Mitz to recount these important years for the Woolfs, but the concept is even more fitting when you recognise how caring for the marmoset demonstrates basic elements of the Woolfs' individual characters; Leonard's devotion toward wife and monkey, and a surprising degree of playfulness attributed to Virginia. In another layer of ingenuity, Nunez makes reference several times to � the fictional biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's cocker spaniel, written by Virginia Woolf herself � making plain the connection between the two books (which recalled, in my mind, the multiple layers of Michael Cunningham's ; which came after Mitz).
One aspect that really intrigued me about the writing was the narrative voice � although decidedly fiction, with events based on letters, memoirs, and diaries, Mitz reads like literary nonfiction, with Nunez seeming to insert herself every here and there in order to comment on the facts, as in:
No one could do his or her job to Leonard's satisfaction; no one knew better how a thing ought to be done than Leonard himself; he was surrounded by boobies and cheats. (Not for nothing did John Lehmann call his memoir of his year working at Hogarth Thrown to the Woolfs.)
And:
To her intimate friend Vita Sackville-West she was Potto, and a potto is a kind of lemur � not a spaniel, as one of Virginia's biographers thinks � and a lemur, though not a true monkey, is a very close relation.
I'm intrigued by that voice (it must be Nunez herself telling us the tale) and it adds another layer of delight to an overall delightful and intriguing story. Recommended to fans of Virginia Woolf, fans of Sigrid Nunez, and fans of palm-sized monkeys.
January 18, 2019
By 2018 National Book Award–winning author Sigrid Nunez, MITZ is an intimate portrait of the life and marriage of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, as refracted through their small, sickly, pampered, affectionate pet marmoset, Mitz.
June 29, 2019
After reading Nunez's , I was confident she could write a twee-free, yet still charming book about the Woolfs and their marmoset. She does. Mitz doesn't narrate (thankfully) but it is something of a marmosets-eye view of life with the Woolfs just before the start of WWII.
March 28, 2025
mis tore viis jutustada lihtsalt natuke Virginia ja Leonard Woolfi elust - perest ja sõpradest ja möödaminnes ka tööst, aga üldiselt ikkagi selline argipäevakirjeldus. marmoseti vaatenurgast. st minajutustaja ta just ei ole, aga saame teada ja näha ikkagi neid asju, mida Mitz teada ja näha sai. ja no ma ei tea, tundub, et olid toredad inimesed ja neil oli tore elu, millele, nagu lõpuks alati läheb, tegi lõpu sõda.
May 9, 2021
This is a lovely story of Virginia and Leonard Woolf's writing and relationship told with a focus on Mitz, a marmoset monkey they adopted in real life. This book is a very interesting look at Leonard and Virginia as artists and authors in the 1930s and early 1940s, once their Bloomsbury Group is well-established and they are entering a time of life where many of their friends are seriously ill or dying. I think anyone who has or has had a pet will love this book, as it really shows the special joy a pet can bring to one's life, and shows how pets understand so much more than we think. In this time of illness and the COVID pandemic, it is just the kind of feel-good book I think we all need. Without being overly optimistic, as it does deal with Virginia's bouts of physical and mental illness, this is a hopeful story about the importance of love and the many forms that it can take. This book is a little-known gem.
Once again, I read this book with a lovely group of women, and I am so glad I did. This was a lovely reading experience.
Once again, I read this book with a lovely group of women, and I am so glad I did. This was a lovely reading experience.
March 21, 2025
MITZ: THE MARMOSET OF BLOOMSBURY by Sigrid Nunez is one of those rare and special books that light up our imaginations and transport us to another place and time. I'm a fan of the short novel or novella form (less is more), and love most things "Bloomsbury"; I've read THE HOURS, BLOOMSBURY PIE by Regina Marler, THE PORTRAIT OF A MARRIAGE, and numerous books by Virginia Woolf, and seen films of these as well as CARRINGTON. Thus MITZ seems rather like old home week, a reunion of sorts.
In the years just prior to WWII Leonard Woolf adopted a friend's pet marmoset. This is NOT a biography of the marmoset (though the author does pay homage to Mrs. Woolf's biography of the Browning's cocker spaniel FLUSH), but rather a lovingly drawn portrait of a couple and the unique relationship they share with this most unusual addition to their family.
We follow the celebrated couple from Monk's House to Tavistock Square (and back again several times) and on excursions throughout Europe which include a frightening encounter with a stromtrooper in Nazi Germany. All the usual Bloomsbury characters are here: Vanessa Bell, Vita Sackville-West, T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, Lytton Strachey, etc. The author has meticulously researched her subject. However, the piece never feels studious or labored, but rather flows with a fluidity and grace that serves the author's subjects and readers with equal aplomb.
Anyone who enjoyed THE UNCOMMON READER or 84, CHARING CROSS ROAD is sure to treasure MITZ.
In the years just prior to WWII Leonard Woolf adopted a friend's pet marmoset. This is NOT a biography of the marmoset (though the author does pay homage to Mrs. Woolf's biography of the Browning's cocker spaniel FLUSH), but rather a lovingly drawn portrait of a couple and the unique relationship they share with this most unusual addition to their family.
We follow the celebrated couple from Monk's House to Tavistock Square (and back again several times) and on excursions throughout Europe which include a frightening encounter with a stromtrooper in Nazi Germany. All the usual Bloomsbury characters are here: Vanessa Bell, Vita Sackville-West, T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, Lytton Strachey, etc. The author has meticulously researched her subject. However, the piece never feels studious or labored, but rather flows with a fluidity and grace that serves the author's subjects and readers with equal aplomb.
Anyone who enjoyed THE UNCOMMON READER or 84, CHARING CROSS ROAD is sure to treasure MITZ.
July 17, 2019
What a charming little curio! The Woolfs and their lives are vividly rendered without actually being deeply wrought, allowing them to live off the page as much if not more than on it; the geopolitical scene of the lead-up to WWII is unexpectedly powerful; and Mitz is charming and delightful and strange.
Nunez is a writer of uncommon power, particularly about animals (he says, having only read her two animal-focused books), and I'm excited to read more more more.
Nunez is a writer of uncommon power, particularly about animals (he says, having only read her two animal-focused books), and I'm excited to read more more more.
September 19, 2017
A charming and very brief book.
It tells the story of a pet monkey owned by Leonard Woolf - Virginia's husband.
I enjoyed because despite it's slight size - it is must have been difficult to research and write. The tone is just right.
.
It tells the story of a pet monkey owned by Leonard Woolf - Virginia's husband.
I enjoyed because despite it's slight size - it is must have been difficult to research and write. The tone is just right.
.
February 19, 2021
The best way to describe this book is that it's the perfect book to read when you just want to have a relaxing afternoon spent on the couch (or comfy chair!) with a cup of tea. Bonus points if it's cold weather outside, but the sun is shining. I liked Nunez's The Friend when it dealt with pet ownership, not so much when the subject matter was about a man in academia. In Mitz Nunez imagines what went on in the Woolf household when Mitz the marmoset moves in (they really did have a marmoset as a pet). After reading Jacob's Room, which was one of the most modernist novels I've ever read, I didn't think I'd ever want to read another Virginia Woolf book, but Nunez had made me willing to try again! She writes about Virginia and Leonard's relationship and Virginia's writing process so compellingly, that I feel like I understand why Virginia appeals to so many. And of course, this book was modeled after Woolf's novel Flush, which is about Elizabeth Barrett Browning's dog. That will probably be the next Woolf I try out.
September 29, 2019
"The Woolf's quarrels almost all had the same source: Virginia refused to leave a party early or take proper rest or drink her milk or eat."
November 15, 2022
Kats picked this one for our postal round #11.
I loved it!
Fiction, but I hope (and believe) the author captured the relationship of Virginia Woolf and her husband and sister and friends. And, of course, the delightful Mitz!
I love that Kats searched out this particular edition. That cover is perfect.
I loved it!
Fiction, but I hope (and believe) the author captured the relationship of Virginia Woolf and her husband and sister and friends. And, of course, the delightful Mitz!
I love that Kats searched out this particular edition. That cover is perfect.
April 30, 2013
The fictionalized biography of Mitz, a marmoset owned by Leonard Woolf, from about the end of the Bloomsbury era to the outbreak of WWII. Mitz is a mischievous, chattering observer to the Woolfs� devoted, if a bit Victorian, relationship; their sometimes haughty relationship with their servants and printing press staff; Virginia’s odd adoration of her sister and Vita Sackville-West (who was certainly her literary inferior); their 1935 tour of Europe, including a rather misguided drive through Nazi Germany ; Virginia’s breakdown over writing The Years; conversations with T.S. Eliot and others on every topic under the sun; Virginia’s ruminations on war in the face of her nephew volunteering, and dying, in Spain.
It’s a well-crafted novella, certainly informative about certain aspects of the Woolfs� lives and attitudes. There are a few awkward narrative choices, as when Nunez flashes to the present day to no particular purpose (“In our own day the eminent critic Harold Blood would find a place for her…�), which are misplaced and confusing. And Nunez assumes a great deal of Woolfian knowledge in the reader, mentioning “Vita� and “Tom Eliot� without much in the way of explanation; I know she’s writing as if from within the circle, but it’s doesn’t fully capture the atmosphere if we aren’t clued in to who this “Tom� fellow might be (some sort of Catholic playwright, one might assume). I also found the penultimate flashback chapter, in which nothing particularly surprising is added to Mitz’s fictional past, quite unnecessary. But as noted, it is a well-crafted book on the whole, and a light, fun read. Most importantly, in showing them as pet lovers, friends, spouses, talking and laughing and worrying about war and work, it helps bring human faces to the often crudely-sketched (lesbian, haughty, bipolar) Leonard and Virginia Woolf.
It’s a well-crafted novella, certainly informative about certain aspects of the Woolfs� lives and attitudes. There are a few awkward narrative choices, as when Nunez flashes to the present day to no particular purpose (“In our own day the eminent critic Harold Blood would find a place for her…�), which are misplaced and confusing. And Nunez assumes a great deal of Woolfian knowledge in the reader, mentioning “Vita� and “Tom Eliot� without much in the way of explanation; I know she’s writing as if from within the circle, but it’s doesn’t fully capture the atmosphere if we aren’t clued in to who this “Tom� fellow might be (some sort of Catholic playwright, one might assume). I also found the penultimate flashback chapter, in which nothing particularly surprising is added to Mitz’s fictional past, quite unnecessary. But as noted, it is a well-crafted book on the whole, and a light, fun read. Most importantly, in showing them as pet lovers, friends, spouses, talking and laughing and worrying about war and work, it helps bring human faces to the often crudely-sketched (lesbian, haughty, bipolar) Leonard and Virginia Woolf.
Read
July 17, 2019Some writer just “get it�: the human-animal connection. In the last book I read by her, Sigrid Nunez mines her narrator’s growing affection for a giant Great Dane. In Mitz, which was actually written (and now reissued) a few decade earlier, it is a little marmoset who tugs at the heartstrings.
I read this book for three key reasons. The first: the author is Sigrid Nunez who writes with understanding and grace. The second: the aforementioned marmoset happens to belong to Virginia and Leonard Woolf, surely one of the most prolific and ingenious literary couples. And third, I am a self-abashed animal lover, as long as the tale isn’t cloying or manipulative.
Life follows art; Virginia Woolf herself penned her book Flush, a biography of her spaniel. (And indeed, two successive spaniels are featured here as well). The sickly little marmoset, a temporary loan from their friends the Rothschilds, ends up taking permanence resident in the Woolf’s abode. There, she pays witness to their writing routines and cozies up to Leonard (jealously claiming him when he is openly affectionate to Virginia). There is a fine scene when she enables the couple to make a getaway in Bonn at the time of Hitler’s ascendance and later when the winds of war threaten London.
Much is alluded to and not delved into: Virginia Woolf’s depression (she will eventually become a suicide), the physical ailments of Leonard the tragedy of Virginia’s nephew’s early death, an always, the war in the shadows. But this isn’t meant to be a biography of the Woolfs or an excavation into the causes of internal and external wars. It’s about a biography of a tiny pet monkey. Viewed from that prism, it succeeds quite well. Thank you @softskullpress for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars. #mitzthemarmosetofbloomsbury #mitz
I read this book for three key reasons. The first: the author is Sigrid Nunez who writes with understanding and grace. The second: the aforementioned marmoset happens to belong to Virginia and Leonard Woolf, surely one of the most prolific and ingenious literary couples. And third, I am a self-abashed animal lover, as long as the tale isn’t cloying or manipulative.
Life follows art; Virginia Woolf herself penned her book Flush, a biography of her spaniel. (And indeed, two successive spaniels are featured here as well). The sickly little marmoset, a temporary loan from their friends the Rothschilds, ends up taking permanence resident in the Woolf’s abode. There, she pays witness to their writing routines and cozies up to Leonard (jealously claiming him when he is openly affectionate to Virginia). There is a fine scene when she enables the couple to make a getaway in Bonn at the time of Hitler’s ascendance and later when the winds of war threaten London.
Much is alluded to and not delved into: Virginia Woolf’s depression (she will eventually become a suicide), the physical ailments of Leonard the tragedy of Virginia’s nephew’s early death, an always, the war in the shadows. But this isn’t meant to be a biography of the Woolfs or an excavation into the causes of internal and external wars. It’s about a biography of a tiny pet monkey. Viewed from that prism, it succeeds quite well. Thank you @softskullpress for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars. #mitzthemarmosetofbloomsbury #mitz
October 21, 2019
Read in three sittings. What a book! I loved it. Really happy that I impulse bought this one night in NYC. To see the world of the Woolfs told this way was very interesting.
Shoutouts:
-the fact that this book gave ample screen time to Leonard, who is often pushed to the side in stories about Virginia.
-the chapter in Nazi germany was legitimately stressful to read.
-Lytton!
-Loved the references to all their works.
-Mitz as a character is one of the most fun reading experiences I’ve had.
This will go down with Sudden Death as an impulse purchase that lives on as a favorite.
Shoutouts:
-the fact that this book gave ample screen time to Leonard, who is often pushed to the side in stories about Virginia.
-the chapter in Nazi germany was legitimately stressful to read.
-Lytton!
-Loved the references to all their works.
-Mitz as a character is one of the most fun reading experiences I’ve had.
This will go down with Sudden Death as an impulse purchase that lives on as a favorite.
January 4, 2020
This might be the sweetest book for adults I've ever read. It is as much a book about the Woolves as it is about Mitz, but Mitz is never a means to an end - she has her own autonomy, her own importance. It is a relief to read a non-fiction work about Virginia Woolf that doesn't mention her death, and to read about the daily lives of two prolific artists who had, relatively speaking, a calm and quiet existence together, in love.
April 20, 2021
For fans of Sigrid Nunez--don't miss this one. Mitz (short for Mitzi, real name only mentioned once at the end) is a small monkey that Leonard Woolf becomes attached to and with. The reader will learn about many of those Bloombury characters. Though a fictional treatment (Mitz is definitely real) it is a sweeter treatment of this crowed than portrayed in other books. Makes the reader hungry to read more about Bloomsbury.
June 16, 2019
Charming, interesting and a lovely insight into home life with the Woolfs along with lashings of literary name dropping of the Bloomsbury set. But the tone and writing style seemed a bit uncertain of its audience. At first it felt like a book for children but as it went along the content became too complex and dark for the younger set - perhaps 12 and above is a good target.
March 9, 2021
Fantastic book! An innovative take on Virginia and Leonard Woolf -through the eyes of Mitz - a marmoset that was kidnapped from Brazil and given to them by the Rothschilds. In the commentary at the end they drew similarities between this novel and Virginia Woolf's Flush.
July 6, 2021
Was it worth reading (for Virginia Woolf fans)? Maybe? -- it's amusing and only takes a few hours.
It's way twee, there is not much new here, and Woolf's letters and writings are so much better.
Anthropomorphizing a marmoset, even if she belongs to Leonard Woolf, is a hard uphill battle.
It's way twee, there is not much new here, and Woolf's letters and writings are so much better.
Anthropomorphizing a marmoset, even if she belongs to Leonard Woolf, is a hard uphill battle.
April 24, 2022
Imagine being able to tell people that a monkey saved you from the Nazis. Also, I can’t get the image of Virginia and Leonard, fully decked out for a Lewis Carrol costume party, coming to the aid of a London sex worker who was being harassed by the police out of my head.
September 11, 2019
4.5, maybe. A charmer that could proudly sit on the shelf next to Flush.
October 6, 2023
Pealtnäha on see lugu rotisuurusest ahvist, marmosett Mitzist, kelle parun Rothschild ostis ühest Londoni vanakraamipoest kingituseks oma titeootel kaasale. Loomakest märkavad parunit külastanud Virginia ja Leonard Woolfid ning kui mõni nädal hiljem Rothschildid reisile lähevad, nõustub Leonard ahvi enda hoole alla võtma. Peagi selgub, et ahvike on haige. Leonard, Virginia sõnul kõikide loomade lemmik, võtab loomakese ravimise enda peale ning soojas ja õigesti toidetult kosub loomake kiirelt. Lonkavast ja küürus, pelglikust päkapikust (Virginia ütleb, et kui ta kujutab endale ette päkapikke, siis nad on täpselt selliste nägudega nagu Mitz) saab peagi energiline ja uudishimulik marmosett, nagu ta olema peabki. Loomake kiindub abielupaari ja abielupaar loomakesse, sedavõrd, et Leonard otsustab looma mitte tagastada. Õnneks Rothschildidele on selline uudis suureks kergenduseks ja nii algabki Mitzi neli ja pool aastat kestnud kaunis elu Woolfide peres. Raamatus on palju juttu ka Woolfide kokkerspanjelitest, Pinkast ja Sallyst ja pmts võikski ühe lausega öelda, et raamat räägib lemmikloomade rollist inimeste elus ja perekond Woolfide elus eriti. Kuid see pole nii, raamatus on palju rohkem.
Sigrit Nunez on raamatu kirjutamiseks läbi töötanud suure hulga materjale, kirju, päevikuid ja muid dokumente. Marmoseti elulugu põhineb faktidel, kuid kirjanik on tunnistanud, et palju, eriti mis puudutab inimeste ja loomade tundeid ja mõtteid, on ta siiski ise juurde mõelnud. Ja erakordselt õnnestunult. Mõttes, see kontseptsioon, rääkida Woolfidest (sedakord mõlemast, Leonardil on raamatus sama suur roll kui Virginial), neist ja neid ümbritsevast reaalsusest läbi rotisuuruse ahvi eluloo on üliäge. Aga teostus on ka suurepärane. Napil 88. leheküljel rullub lahti ühe perekonna lugu, küll � ajaliselt kindlal perioodil (1934 � 1938), kuid suhtedünaamika on siiski ajaperioodi üleselt selgelt välja kirjutatud. Pühendunud ja hoolitsev Leonard ja nõrga tervisega kuid see eest kirglik ja üllatavalt mänguline Virginia. Paari elukorraldus ja intiimsed detailid. Lisaks nende partnerlus, töös ja äris. Vilgas seltsielu, suhted lähedaste ja nimekate sõpradega. Poliitilised veendumused. Viited ja seosed Virginia ja mitte ainult, loomingule (-ga). Õige peene pintsliga joonistatud portreed, täpsed ja veenvad. Ja seda kõike maailmasõja eelõhtul. Ka see, taustal kiiresti tumenev rahvusvaheline poliitiline olukord, kombitsaid üha enam laiali ajav fašism, inimeste hirm ja segadus, ka see kõik on hästi välja kirjutatud.
Kokkuvõttes mulle tundub, et selles raamatud on hästi palju armastust. Inimestevahelist, loomadevahelist, inimeste- ja loomadevahelist ja mingisugust veel. Armastust oma töö vastu nt ja koduarmastust ja � palju, igasugust. Jälle üks raamat, mis mulle väga meeldis.
"Virginia vaatas Mitzile väga sageli pikalt otsa. Mitz tekitas temas küsimusi nagu kassid ja koerad, keda ta oli kogu elu tundnud. Mis tunne on olla loom? Milline on maailm läbi koera silmade? Mida kassid meist arvavad? Ilma sellise huvita poleks Virgina ilmselt kunagi "Flushi" kirjutanud. Nüüd oli tema huvi keskpunktis Mitzi kreeka pähkli suurune peakene, mille sisse ta oleks tahtnud näha. Kas marmosetid näevad und? Kas neil on mälestusi? Kas neil on kahetsusi? Mida marmosetid tahavad?" (lk 37)
"Virginia viskas õigustatult enda ja Mitzi sarnasuste üle nalja. Kaks närvilist, õrna, ettevaatlikku naisolevust, mõlemad halastamatult uudishimulikud. Mõlemad olid armunud Leonardisse - mees oli nende tugi, nende "kindel kese". Mõlemad olid vallatud. Mõlemad olid küünilised." (lk 37)
Sigrit Nunez on raamatu kirjutamiseks läbi töötanud suure hulga materjale, kirju, päevikuid ja muid dokumente. Marmoseti elulugu põhineb faktidel, kuid kirjanik on tunnistanud, et palju, eriti mis puudutab inimeste ja loomade tundeid ja mõtteid, on ta siiski ise juurde mõelnud. Ja erakordselt õnnestunult. Mõttes, see kontseptsioon, rääkida Woolfidest (sedakord mõlemast, Leonardil on raamatus sama suur roll kui Virginial), neist ja neid ümbritsevast reaalsusest läbi rotisuuruse ahvi eluloo on üliäge. Aga teostus on ka suurepärane. Napil 88. leheküljel rullub lahti ühe perekonna lugu, küll � ajaliselt kindlal perioodil (1934 � 1938), kuid suhtedünaamika on siiski ajaperioodi üleselt selgelt välja kirjutatud. Pühendunud ja hoolitsev Leonard ja nõrga tervisega kuid see eest kirglik ja üllatavalt mänguline Virginia. Paari elukorraldus ja intiimsed detailid. Lisaks nende partnerlus, töös ja äris. Vilgas seltsielu, suhted lähedaste ja nimekate sõpradega. Poliitilised veendumused. Viited ja seosed Virginia ja mitte ainult, loomingule (-ga). Õige peene pintsliga joonistatud portreed, täpsed ja veenvad. Ja seda kõike maailmasõja eelõhtul. Ka see, taustal kiiresti tumenev rahvusvaheline poliitiline olukord, kombitsaid üha enam laiali ajav fašism, inimeste hirm ja segadus, ka see kõik on hästi välja kirjutatud.
Kokkuvõttes mulle tundub, et selles raamatud on hästi palju armastust. Inimestevahelist, loomadevahelist, inimeste- ja loomadevahelist ja mingisugust veel. Armastust oma töö vastu nt ja koduarmastust ja � palju, igasugust. Jälle üks raamat, mis mulle väga meeldis.
"Virginia vaatas Mitzile väga sageli pikalt otsa. Mitz tekitas temas küsimusi nagu kassid ja koerad, keda ta oli kogu elu tundnud. Mis tunne on olla loom? Milline on maailm läbi koera silmade? Mida kassid meist arvavad? Ilma sellise huvita poleks Virgina ilmselt kunagi "Flushi" kirjutanud. Nüüd oli tema huvi keskpunktis Mitzi kreeka pähkli suurune peakene, mille sisse ta oleks tahtnud näha. Kas marmosetid näevad und? Kas neil on mälestusi? Kas neil on kahetsusi? Mida marmosetid tahavad?" (lk 37)
"Virginia viskas õigustatult enda ja Mitzi sarnasuste üle nalja. Kaks närvilist, õrna, ettevaatlikku naisolevust, mõlemad halastamatult uudishimulikud. Mõlemad olid armunud Leonardisse - mees oli nende tugi, nende "kindel kese". Mõlemad olid vallatud. Mõlemad olid küünilised." (lk 37)
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