A semi-biographical novel based in part on the life of Woolf's lover Vita Sackville-West, it is generally considered one of Woolf's most accessible novels. The novel has been influential stylistically, and is considered important in literature generally, and particularly in the history of women's writing and gender studies. Orlando tells the story of a young man named Orlando, born in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. He is briefly a lover to the elderly queen. After her death he has a brief, intense love affair with Sasha, ostensibly a princess in the entourage of the Russian embassy. This episode, of love and excitement against the background of the Frost Fair held on the frozen Thames River during the Great Frost of 1608, is one of the best known of the novel. It is said to represent Vita Sackville-West's affair with Violet Trefusis. Following Sasha's sudden departure and return to Russia, the desolate Orlando returns to writing The Oak Tree, a long poem started and abandoned in his youth. He meets with a famous poet, …

The quotes from this eBook: 

- "All extremes of feelings are allied with madness."

- "Writing is like sex. First you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money."

- "Love, the poet said, is woman's whole existence."

- "He who robs us of our dreams robs us of our life."

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