´A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction´ Ranging from the silent fate of Shakespeare´s gifted (imaginary) sister to Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and the effects of poverty and sexual constraint on female creativity, A Room of One´s Own, based on a lecture given at Girton College, Cambridge, is one of the great feminist polemics. Published almost a decade later, Three Guineas breaks new ground in its discussion of men, militarism and women´s attitudes towards war. These two pieces reveal Virginia Woolf´s fiery spirit, sophisticated wit and genius as an essayist.