Three Bloomsbury women: a great writer, a talented painter, and an unsuccessful, reclusive artist. Mary Ann Caws's deeply personal book takes a fresh look at the lives of Virginia Woolf, her sister Vanessa Bell, and Dora Carrington. Connected by more than bonds of friendship and artistic endeavour, the three women faced similar struggles. Caws juxtaposes their personal lives and their work: among these three were two who acheived great renown, two bisexuals, two women artists living with gay men, two suicides. Through the examples of Carrington, Virginia and Vanessa, Caws teaches us about the pain women suffer in being artists, and in finding - or creating - their sense of self. Relying on many unpublished sources, including letters and diaries, as well as familiar texts, Caws gives us a portrait of the female self in the act of creation.