"In 1935, Ruth Gruber published a seminal essay on Virginia Woolf that can now be seen for what it was: the first feminist interpretation of Woolf's writings and literary career. Seventy years later, Gruber's critique is presented for the first time in the U.S., accompanied by new material that makes it more meaningful than ever for readers today: facsimile reproductions of previously unpublished correspondence between Woolf and Gruber, and Gruber's new introduction, "My Hours with Virginia Woolf," in which she recalls her 1935 meeting with Woolf in her London home. Gruber also examines perennial questions concerning Woolf's bi-polar illness and anti-semitism." "In her trailblazing analysis, Gruber perceptively examines Woolf's concept of gender and her literary influences, cogently discussing how Woolf constructed a feminine writing style in a realm dominated by men. Above all, she shows how Woolf strove consciously to create as a woman."--Jacket.