The definitive and authorised biography of the artist Vanessa Bell.

Even through the lens of the twenty-first century, the story of Vanessa Bell's life is unorthodox. A powerful magnetic figure, Bell lived at the heart of the Bloomsbury Group and was often the core figure around which the disparate individuals of the movement revolved.

Her art and designs – so often overshadowed by her sister Virginia Woolf's writings and fame and by the interest in her own unconventional life – made a significant contribution to the history of the Bloomsbury Group. Yet, until this authorised biography was written, she has remained a largely silent and enigmatic figure.

In this captivating account, acclaimed art historian and biographer Frances Spalding restores Bell to the heart of the Bloomsbury Group, illuminating an exceptional life and the free-spirited circle among which she lived.