Widely heralded as one of the first truly modern novels, Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” was published in 1925 and is one of the author’s most popular and critically acclaimed works. All of the events of the novel take place on a single day in June 1923 and the novel’s perspective varies often as Woolf journeys inside the minds of many characters as they each experience the day and connect its events to the memories of their past. The two main characters are Clarissa Dalloway, a wealthy woman of high society who is planning a party for that evening, and Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran of the First World War, who continues to suffer from the trauma he experienced on the battlefield. Both characters are constantly aware of the passage of time, as Clarissa often reflects on her happy youth and her missed opportunities for love and passion and Septimus is haunted by his memories of the horror he witnessed and feels death looming ever closer and closer. Heartbreaking and powerfully evocative, “Mrs. Dalloway” is a timeless masterpiece about finding the joy in little things while never completely forgetting the fleetingness of life and the inevitably of death. This edition includes a biographical afterword.
