At the beginning of 1932, Woolf finished Letter
to a Young Poet and it was sold by Hogarth Press as a
shilling booklet. The Second Common Reader was
published in October of that year and Woolf once again picked up Flush, which
she'd set aside. She also began work on a novel that would give
her a great deal of trouble, The Years. In March
1933, the University of Manchester offered Woolf an honorary degree;
she turned it down. The year before she'd refused to accept a post
at Cambridge, and six years later, she'd refuse an honorary doctorate
from University of Liverpool. She felt that it was dangerous for
a writer to become involved in what she termed the "academic machine."
The world was again in upheaval the early 1930's. The
Nazi Party had been on the rise in Germany during 1932 and the
next year Hitler had become ruler of Germany. In 1933, the Japanese were
occupying Manchuria. In 1934, all signs pointed to a Fascist uprising
in France, and in 1936, a civil war broke out in Spain. Two years
later, Germany would annex Austria and the stage would be set for
a second world war.
Flush was published the following October
and, like most of Woolf's recent novels, was a success. The following
April, Leonard opened up the obituary section of the Times and
read that George Duckworth had died. That same year, while Woolf
was busy with Here and Now, Roger Fry died. Although
Woolf was deeply saddened by his passing, she was perhaps more affected
by watching her sister Vanessa grieve for her ex-lover. Although
Vanessa's love affair with Roger ended amicably nearly twenty years
before, the two had remained good friends. Added to Woolf's grief
was the unbearable burden of everyone's expectation that she would
be Roger Fry's biographer. Woolf didn't want to write the biography. Furthermore, The
Years was proving a nightmare for Woolf and in 1934, a
book by Wyndham Lewis called Men Without Art appeared in
which an entire chapter was devoted to denigrating Woolf and her
writing. Lewis called her "extremely insignificant" as a writer. Although
Wyndham Lewis's attack was condemned by a number of Woolf's supporters–and
although history has proven him quite wrong–Woolf feared her reputation
was deteriorating.
After grappling with the idea of writing Roger Fry's biography, Woolf
finally began work on it. At the same time, she continued work
on The Years, whipsawing back and forth regarding
its worth. While reading the galleys of The Years, Woolf
decided it was awful and the thought of launching in into the literary
marketplace only to blasted was almost too much for her to bear.
Leonard also thought it was sub par work, but told her that it was
extremely good; he was afraid that if he told her the truth, she
was try to kill herself. Buoyed by Leonard's reaction, she began
work on Three Guineas. In March 1937, despite
both Leonard and Woolf's reservations, The Years
was published to good reviews, even though Woolf's friends were
lukewarm about the novel at best. In October, Woolf sold her share
of Hogarth Press to John Lehmann.
Her nephew, Julian Bell, decided to fight in the new civil
war taking place in Spain, despite his mother's vehement protests.
He was killed there on July eighteen, 1937. Vanessa was so grief-stricken that
she hardly left her bed for two months. Woolf spent the better part
of the summer and fall consoling her sister. After the publication
of Three Guineas in June 1938, Woolf began work
on Between the Acts while slogging her way through
Roger Fry's biography. On September three, 1939, Britain declared
war on Germany and World War Two was underway.
On May 10th, 1940, Germany invaded Belgium and Holland. On
June 14th, Paris fell. War in Britain was imminent and, like many
Brits, Woolf believed Britain was destined to lose. The looming
Fascist regime did not bode well for Leonard especially; as a Jew,
he was in great if not yet imminent danger. In August 1940, the Battle
of Britain began, in which Britain and Germany fought a series
of air battles over England. The bombing of London commenced soon
after. Vanessa's studio and Woolf's home were blown to smithereens
in the attacks. However, the Brits managed to fend off the Germans,
and the Battle of Britain was Germany's first loss of the new war.
Despite all this, Woolf was able to work. During that summer, her
biography of Roger Fry had been published. On November twenty-three,
1940, she finished Between the Acts and promptly
began writing Anon. It was a period of relatively
good mental health for her, even though she'd just finished a novel
and was in danger of slipping into a depression as was her tendency. However,
by March 1941, her mood had changed drastically and she was severely
depressed. Leonard became quite anxious when Woolf began telling
people that she did not want to see Between the Acts published.
She grew pale and emaciated. On Friday March 27th, Leonard took
Woolf to see a family friend who happened to be a doctor. Woolf
told the doctor that nothing was wrong with her, despite the fact
that she was hearing voices.
The next day, Friday March 28th, 1941, Woolf went to her
garden studio for the last time, sat down and wrote two notes–one
to Leonard and one to Vanessa. In these letters, she writes of
hearing voices and feeling sure that she'd never make it back from
this bout with madness and so wanted to spare the two most important
people in her life from more pain. She walked back to the house,
wrote Leonard a second note and placed it on the mantle. She then
picked up her walking stick, walked to the River Ouse, filled her
pockets with stones and drowned herself. She was fifty-eight years
old.
