Book description
CHALLENGE was Vita Sackville-West's second novel. It was ready to go
to print in 1920, but the author suddenly changed her mind. This was
not because she lacked confidence in her work, but because of the
scandal it would have caused. CHALLENGE remained unpublished for over
fifty years. Vita's love affair with Violet Trefusis had reached its
peak, and, eloping to France, they decided to abandon everything and
everyone - children and husbands included - to spend the rest of their
lives together. Although they returned to their families eventually,
CHALLENGE remains a testament of their love, and was written during
that period. The hero, Julian, might be a Byronic young Englishman,
and Eve the woman he adores; it may be an adventure tale about a
revolt on a Greek island. But really, this is a love story, written in
the presence of the beloved, and inspired by her. And, as its title
implies, the novel is a challenge to the society that condemned Vita
and her lover.
Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962), distinguished novelist, poet and
critic, was brought up at Knole, and lived with her husband, Harold
Nicolson, at Sissinghurst in Kent. She was the inspiration for Virginia
Woolf's novel, ORLANDO.
