Clare Hall Book Club

Join the College’s Book Club as they discuss The Bloomsbury Group by Frances Spalding.

The most constructive and creative influence on English taste between the two wars, ‘The Bloomsbury Group’ was a union of friends who transformed British culture with their approach to art, design and society. The Group began the twentieth century with a desire to rebel and challenge what they felt were the religious, artistic, social and sexual taboos of Victorian England. Together they created a revolution in British style that resonates with contemporary painters, writers, actors, designers, fashion editors and publishers. This book explores the impact of Bloomsbury personalities on each other, as well as their legacy to the twenty-first century. Author Frances Spalding demonstrates how this network of artists, lovers and patrons recorded one another obsessively in both words and images. She presents twenty fascinating biographies, all of which are illustrated with paintings and intimate photographs created by members of the Group. Highlighted in her revealing account are: Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Vanessa and Clive Bell, Duncan Grant, Lady Ottoline Morrell, Roger Fry, J.M. Keynes, Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington.

All College members are welcome to attend in-person, meeting in Clare Hall’s Meeting Room, or via Zoom. If you are not on the mailing list and would like to be, please send an email to gloria.carnevali@icloud.com, confirming your Clare Hall connection and putting the following as the email title: I would like to join the Book Club mailing list.

Learn more about the Book Club on this page.