The Bloomsbury Set have been and remain an endless source of fascination to succeeding generations and is the source of much biography, exhibitions, film, television and radio works regarding their composition, output and significance. An eclectic mix of friends and relatives they would come to symbolise a rejection of the prevailing bourgeois habits and customs in preference for new thinking that encompassed the world of literature, art, sexuality, economics, feminism and pacifism. In addition to meeting at their homes in Bloomsbury, Central London they also met at countryside retreats, one of particular significance was Charleston Farmhouse near Lewes where Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant moved to in 1916.

Published by the Quarto Publishing Group and with the narrative by the late Quentin Bell , the youngest son of Clive and Vanessa Bell and his daughter Virginia Nicholson we learn of the significance of this house and the relationship and influence it had on the people who stayed and lived there. This is in many ways represents the archetypal coffee table book with truly sumptuous photographs by Alen MacWeeney and pictures from Vanessa Bell's family album that give us an appreciation of what is was like during the Bloomsbury Set's most influential years.

There is an impressive cast list of famous names which include such luminaries as the economist Maynard Keynes, the writers Lytton Strachey and EM Forster, The poet T.S Eliot and of course the wonderful Virginia Woolf. It was fascinating to see how the house and indeed garden was linked to so many important cultural figures from the past. After reading this you simply want to go to visit this atmospheric and historic building which is now open to the public and through its present day activities continues to inspire artistic and intellectual freedom which is as important today as it was at the time of the Bloomsbury Set. I would certainly recommend this book if you have an interest in this subject. ( )

Vier sterren, misschien eerder voor het huis en de bijzondere bende die er bijna achteloos een totaalkunstwerk van maakte?

Hoewel, de foto's zijn sfeervol en de beschrijvingen van Quentin Bell en zijn dochter Virginia bieden een inkijkje in het ongewone leven van de'Charlestonians'. Vooral de anekdotes van Quentin geven het boek een (post?)impressionistische toets, zodat het, al even onnadrukkelijk als het huis, een kunstwerk op zich wordt.

In mijn reisgids was de beschrijving van Charleston maar droog en, jawel, onnadrukkelijk, zodat we er met enige aarzeling een bezoek brachten. Het bleek de omweg meer dan waard. En als je dan toch in de buurt bent, spring dan meteen even binnen in Berwick Church. ( )