My favourite Virginia Woolf short story is Lappin and Lapinova. Originally published in her last collection - The Haunted House and Other Stories - it is about newly married couple Rosalind and Ernest Thorburn. Although in love, there is a discomfort between them, a divide. She craves affection but his stiff upper lip seems to block warmth and spontaneity. Rosalind realises he has a way wriggling his nose that makes him rabbit-esque. Thus she nicknames him Lappin and creates a female counterpart for herself, Lapinova. They imagine a secret forest together where they can throw off their awkwardness and unite as their rabbit alter egos. She feeds him lettuce and says he is a King Rabbit - a "rabbit that makes rules for all the other rabbits". This unites them as a couple and she becomes dependent on it to communicate with her husband.
Until one day, Ernest decides he's had enough. Rosalind tries to entice him into being Lappin and coming into their make believe forest and he tells her Lapinova - her rabbit self - has been "caught in a trap, killed".
Woolf ends the story with, "So, that was the end of that marriage". Tomorrow, I'll be detailing how to get the look of Rosalind.
