Orlando: A Biography

Had no idea what this book was about, just hooked onto it because I'd never read any books by Virginia Woolf and the description mentioned this book as one of her more “accessible” works. Hmmm.... so it hit me like a brick when all of a sudden the male main character is transformed into a woman. It was a shock, and then I was somewhat disappointed because my beginning effort at getting into the book and becoming attached to Orlando and the wonderful rhythm of the language felt yanked out of my grasp. I had to go read some background on the novel to feel like it was “okay” to keep reading–that Woolf had probably based Orlando on a woman Woolf had a “crush” on, etc. I guess I just didn't have enough connection to Orlando as a main character to suspend my disbelief about his sudden gender-switching.