Virginia Woolf - novel - 1928 - p. 205  

A fictional biography that has become a standby in LGBT literature, Orlando follows an undying poet through the centuries and across gender lines. Born wealthy in Elizabethan England, he has an unexplained change of sex at age 30 or so. Throughout the novel, Orlando pursues both love and art with varying levels of success and heartbreak, carrying on international affairs with men and women alike. Among other literary references, the novel satirizes the work of critic John Ruskin, who disdained the art and literature of the Renaissance.

The novel is believed to have been inspired by Woolf’s impassioned relationship with Vita Sackville-West, with whom she had an affair; Sackville-West’s son Nigel views the novel as an extended love letter to Vita.

Key elements: art, Europe, homosexuality, lesbian