When you think of queer classic literature you think of none other than Queen Virginia Woolf. She is one of the great Modern writers and she was a queer woman. One of my favourites of her books is Orlando. A popular option but for a reason. Orlando is considered one of the earliest novels surrounding a transgender character, let alone a protagonist.

The novel follows the life of its titular character, who begins as a young nobleman in Elizabethan England. Over 300 years, Orlando undergoes a gender transformation from man to woman in early adulthood. After awakening from a deep trance, Orlando embraces life as a woman, exploring love and identity through various relationships and experiences across different historical periods. Ultimately, the narrative culminates in 1928, where Orlando reflects on their multifaceted existence and the nature of selfhood.

Similar to her other work, Orlando takes inspiration from Woolf’s lover Vita Sackville-West. Orlando is a homage to Sackville-West’s male ancestors and follows along to her aristocratic life as Orlando nears the end of the storyline. Much like other Modernist writers, Woolf has a way with words and imagery. She has the ability to effortlessly paint a picture while implying a greater meaning to her already meaningful writing.

Rejecting Victorianism, Woolf often wrote of queerness in her novels, either at face value or in the subtext. She was revolutionary in her writing as she rejected norms and embraced feminism. Though reading Orlando seems more of a roast of Sackville-West, Woolf describes the novel as a love letter to her. Embracing Sackville-West’s struggle with gender norms and sexuality to make a story of a transwoman who begins to liveafter she discovers who she truly is. A queer story about real queer people was never done in English literature until we were blessed with Virginia Woolf’s words.