I found this an intriguing and illuminating examination of Virginia Woolf’s fragile mental state throughout her adult life. Written by a psychiatrist, it explores the ups and down of her mental health and offers causes and origins. I am aware that the book has made many people very cross and that they refute the author’s conclusions, but you can read something with interest without necessarily taking everything for the truth, and for me, whether Peter Dally is correct or not, I gained much insight into Woolf’s mental processes from the book and gained a deeper understanding of how she coped – or on occasion didn’t - with the world. Bi-polar, manic-depression, madness – the labels change over time but the suffering remains and this book certainly succeeds in describing that. It’s also a competent biography and an overview of the Bloomsbury set, with some analysis of Woolf’s writing, and overall for me it was a useful and thought-provoking addition to my reading about this most troubled and talented woman.