Mrs Dalloway

Written by Virginia Woolf

Narrated by Geoffrey Giuliano and & The Ark

Mrs Dalloway is a novel by Virginia Woolf, published on 14 May 1925, that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woman in post-First World War England. It is one of Woolf's best-known novels.

The working title of Mrs Dalloway was The Hours. The novel began as two short stories, "Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street" and the unfinished "The Prime Minister". The book describes Clarissa's preparations for a party she will host in the evening, and the ensuing party. With an interior perspective, the story travels forwards and backwards in time, to construct an image of Clarissa's life and of the inter-war social structure. The novel addresses the nature of time in personal experience through multiple interwoven stories.

In October 2005, Mrs Dalloway was included on TIME Magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels written since its first issue in 1923.

Woolf began writing professionally in 1900. After her father's death in 1904, the Stephen family moved from Kensington to the more bohemian Bloomsbury, where, in conjunction with the brothers' intellectual friends, they formed the artistic and literary Bloomsbury Group. In 1912, she married Leonard Woolf, and in 1917, the couple founded the Hogarth Press, which published much of her work. They rented a home in Sussex and moved there permanently in 1940. Woolf had romantic relationships with women, including Vita Sackville-West, who also published her books through Hogarth Press. Both women's literature became inspired by their relationship, which lasted until Woolf's death.

A beautifully wrought audiobook exclusive treasure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Icon Audio Arts
• Release date: Aug 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798887673349

Virginia Woolf

VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941) was one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. An admired literary critic, she authored many essays, letters, journals, and short stories in addition to her groundbreaking novels, including Mrs. Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, and Orlando.

Reviews for Mrs Dalloway

[sara · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The narrator is great, but the book itself is kind of boring…

[katieloucks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Didn't understand this at all.

[pzmiller_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I only read this book when I got partway through Michael Cunningham's "The Hours" and realized I had to first read "Mrs. Dalloway" to appreciate "The Hours." I'm so glad I stopped to read this book because it is wonderful in its own right.

[greeniezona · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Despite having read and loved A Room of One's Own, I had not yet read any of Woolf's fiction. Actually, I had attempted to read this once before, but my brain bounced right off of it, so I put it back on the shelves for another time.

THIS WAS THAT TIME.

Listen, I am fully aware that I missed a lot of this book. I know almost nothing of London, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to fully realize that this takes place right after WWI, not WWII. There were parts of this book that I strained to focus on. But when it sang for me it REALLy sang.

Mrs. Dalloway is a society wife preparing to throw a party that evening. She leaves the house to pick up some flowers, and the novel bounces from person to person as they encounter each other, always circling Mrs. Dalloway and her upcoming party — including her husband, various guests, an old suitor, the doctors of a man who came home from the war altered, women who resent Mrs. Dalloway, people who admire her, her daughter... along the way painting a portrait of a moment in time among a certain social class.

I am glad I finally manipulated myself into reading this one, and hope in the future I will be less "afraid of Virginia Woolf," as there are a number of her other novels on my shelves, long neglected.

[michaeldennis_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The first pick of the year for the Clive Bucket List Book Club! I’ve long been fascinated by British fiction from the interwar period, so this felt like an essential read. A dreamy, stream-of-consciousness novel about lonely individuals whose lives briefly intersect over a single day. While I can’t say I loved it, I appreciate its intent.

[faedemon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

septimus i miss you every day

[steve38 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not sure what to make of it. Interesting experimental style, a view of post world war society in change but a light tale of upper class dilettantes.

[ramrak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Bit boring.

[mmodine-317038 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really must not be as cultured as I pretend to be because I just didn’t resonate with this at all.

[catherinestead · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In a corner of London, political wife Clarissa Dalloway plans and hosts a party. Meanwhile, her family, friends, acquaintances and neighbours are all going about their daily lives - some cheerfully, others in anguish.Although I only gave this book a rating of 3/5, I didn't think it was a bad book. I think it is a Marmite kind of book - you either love it or hate it. I pretty much hated it - on pure personal enjoyment, I'd probably give it a 1/5 - but I did think that it was very well written. The realism of the characters and the lyricism of the prose is wonderful, and it's fascinating to see into the characters' every thought - but I really didn't get on with the stream of consciousness style in which the book is written. I didn't dislike the writing - many of the sentences were beautiful - but I could put it down very easily, and regularly felt bored. I could read a page, and at the end have no memory of what was in it. So it gets a rating of three on the basis that it is a piece of great writing but, subjectively, not necessarily great reading.

[debs4jc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A vivid portrait of a single day in a woman's life, but it skips around to other people that are also on the periphery of her life. It's very stream of consciousness type writing that flows freely form one characters self reflective thoughts to another. It was very hard for me to get into it and really care much about any of the characters, there incessant thoughts seems so tedious.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have had this book on the shelf for quite some time and elected to read it while awaiting an Amazon shipment of new reading material.

I recently viewed the movie, The Hours, and enjoyed it immensely. It was my understanding that it was loosely based upon this Virginia Woolf novel. While I loved the movie, I gave up on the book about half way through.

It is a relatively short book, and I could have easily finished it, but my Amazon shipment arrived and all I could think about was how much more I would enjoy reading something else.

I’m sure this is outstanding literature, but the almost “stream of consciousness” writing style, coupled with the constant unexpected viewpoint shifts between several different characters made it difficult for me to follow and impossible for me to appreciate.

Watch the movie. Skip the book, unless you are a English literature major.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Modern classic published in 1925, Mrs. Dalloway provides a “day in the life” of Clarissa Dalloway, a London socialite, in June, 1923, as she prepares to host a party later that evening. Her charismatic former suitor, Peter, now in his fifties, has returned from five years in India. Decades ago, she turned down Peter’s proposal and married Richard Dalloway, a staid member of Parliament. The reader is privy to the thoughts and memories of Clarissa, her friends and acquaintances, and Septimus Warren Smith, a veteran of the Great War. Septimus is suffering from what they called “shell shock” at the time, and we would now call “post-traumatic stress disorder.”

The stream-of-consciousness writing style took me a while to get used to, but once I did, I found the story intriguing. While the book covers only a single day, it examines the ageless themes of time, choices, and death. Big Ben chimes regularly throughout, reminding the reader of the passage of time. Clarissa and Peter wonder what their lives would be like if they had married. Clarissa and Septimus are preoccupied by thoughts of death. This novel contains commentary on the British social system and the treatment of mental illness, embedded in the various interactions among the characters. It packs a lot into 200 pages.

It won’t be for everyone. The writing is quaint, and I daresay it contains more semi-colons than any book I’ve read. It is a character study, so there is not much action and very little plot. The bulk of the narrative is spent in the heads of the characters, so it meanders and digresses as thoughts tend to do. Recommended to those who enjoy reading the classics or anyone that wants a glimpse into London’s society of the 1920’s, as seen through the eyes of a lyrical writer of the time.

[ghost_boy-691444 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Possibly the best book I ever read, even though I had to read it three times to fully understand it. I first fell in love with Woolf's work in one of my college English class reading her short story "Lady in the Looking-Glass." The way Woolf wrote was like a breath of fresh air. She knew how to write to perfection. Mrs. Dalloway may seem like a short and easy read, but it's hard to grasp if you never read any of her other of her works. There a bunch of flashbacks without telling it's a flashback and Clarissa is a confusing character to grasp at times.

The main reason I had to read this more then once was because I actually wrote an essay saying how this novel and the themes in Aristotle's The Poetics are similar. It was as if Woolf was actually writing a tragedy rather than a short novel. I also love the fact Mrs. Dalloway one could say is a refection of the women she wanted to be. Both Clarissa and Virginia were bisexuals and had trouble deciding who to love more. However, Clarissa at the end realizes she is happy for who she is and Woolf as we all know killed herself because she was unhappy with herself. The other thing I noticed was the Dalloway's have a daughter and Virginia was unable to make a child with her husband due to he mental state.

If you've seen or read The Hours and liked it you've got to read this book too. For obvious reasons. But like The Hours, there are so many misfits and themes running around in this book you realize why it's a classic. Who know a woman getting ready for a party could have some much gong on in one single day.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A collection of snobby English society

[funstm · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

My biggest problem with this book is the writing. She writes and writes and writes and it's like she barely stops for air. There are no pauses or breaks and I found it exhausting. Yes I know, stream of consciousness. But I hate it. 160 pages felt like 160,000 pages.

Plus I didn't like Clarissa or Septimus and the story was boring.

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Amazing introspective novel.

[jphamilton-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Virginia Woolf’s books haven’t wowed me in the past, but within Mrs. Dalloway I found several points where I actually found myself enjoying the book. I come to this novel slightly backward, after seeing and loving the film based on Michael Cunningham’s inventive novel, The Hours, which itself had a connection to this Woolf book. I can’t deny my normal desire to see many of these “idle rich” characters eliminated (or “corrected” as the term is used in Kubrick’s film, The Shining), but then there wouldn’t be any characters left. Vicky, my late partner in everything in life, calmed my anger and got me to even enjoy watching movies and especially PBS series featuring members of the privileged classes throughout time. My beauty soothed some of my anger. All through the book I was finding some truly golden sections of writing, and that has not happened for me before. I’m getting closer to appreciating her books, but already being 67, my remaining time reading just may not get me all the way there. I continue to evolve as a reader.

[electrascaife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books that I'm glad I've read because now I know what it's about and what it is and can place it in its little cubby of literary history. But...I didn't really like it much. It's okay, and I get that it's important. But, well, for me at least, it's...not good. Again, I get that it's maybe in some ways groundbreaking - that notion of making the reader leap from one character's stream of consciousness to another like an alien predator is probably pretty innovative for Woolf's time? - but I don't even think I can comfortably say that the writing is exceptional. It's not awful by any stretch, but there weren't any passages that made me stop and admire the language. I also felt like I couldn't see the plot for all the character's thoughts fogging up the glass, which is how some people like their novels, I know, but it's definitely not my jam. And I'm fairly certain that everyone and everything in the book has a serious case of ennui. I'm just not a Woolf fan, I suppose.

[sarahlh-41506 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More of a 3.5 than a 4, but I enjoyed it. It is a rich, deep, dark, complex text that I am still coming to grips with. I look forward to the eventual and possibly soon reread of it.

[amerynth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've read nearly all of Virgina Woolf's novels at this point and generally, I liked the ones with the more traditional linear structure, while I struggled with her more experimental works. I found this one, while not linear, was more enjoyable than the others with non-traditional prose.

This novel, told in a stream of consciousness style, focuses on several characters, most of whom were connected in their youth, as they prepare for a party and reminisce over the past. I particularly liked the way Woolf's prose reflected their thinking during the party (weaving together all these differing characters) in a way that seemed so like dipping into conversations at an actual party.

[alexrichman_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Like whiskey. Packed full of flavour - but it's all a bit much for me. Preferred the Austentatious flirting to the existential crises - and the passages of similes stacked upon metaphors stacked upon similes stacked upon...

[stillatim · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Still as good as it gets.

[geoffsc-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once I got into this book I really tuned in and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I could sense Virginia's active fertile mind.
The past era was obvious with everyone walking around London.
Captivating descriptions eg "moments like this are buds on the tree of life" p24.

[maowangvater · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Clarissa Dalloway plans a great party, and invites an old flame. Bust as the lives of the partygoers are drawn together, one man's life comes apart.

[lisapeet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well wow, that was pretty wonderful. Calling something a tour de force sounds so pretentious, but Woolf was breaking new ground then and it still feels fresh and surprising with every sentence. I love how she accomplishes that POV that swoops and darts, alighting on first one person and place and time and then another, and making it all work narratively. It's both extremely cinematic and also just impossible to imagine as an actual film—I know it's been done, though I've never seen it. And that wonderful weight given to things, objects, without giving them agency—just existence and primacy. "Admirable butlers, tawny chow dogs, halls laid in black and white lozenges with white blinds blowing."

The setting resonates too, in these strange social distancing days—not London, but the fact that the characters have just emerged, somewhat shell-shocked, from a World War and a pandemic. They've changed from their ordeal, and at the same time the world has changed out from under them. They are working hard to preserve their respective status quos, yet under the surface they’re stunned, appreciative but disoriented, slightly breathless. And there but for the grace of 100 years go we, I think.

I'm kind of surprised I haven't read it before this, but maybe that's reasonable in context:
When one was young, said Peter, one was too much excited to know people. Now that one was old, fifty-two to be precise (Sally was fifty-five, in body, she said, but her heart was like a girl's of twenty); now that one was mature then, said Peter, one could watch, one could understand, and one did not lose the power of feeling, he said.

[skavlanj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Book You Started But Never Finished

I read Mrs. Dalloway and The Hours in succession, then watched the movie {The} Hours. I enjoyed Mrs. Dalloway, but struggled with The Hours. I detested the prose and could never tell whether the narrator was omnisciently telling me the story from each readers perspective or describing the characters is his own voice. Two sentences to illustrate: 1. “She could have had a life as potent and dangerous as literature itself.” If this is Clarissa describing herself, good grief; if it's an omniscient narrator, good grief. This reads more like a novel from two centuries ago when a narrator telling the reader what to feel was acceptable. 2. “She has never lied like that before, not to someone she doesn’t know or love.” The word "that" made me stop and reread the sentence, substituting "this" (to stay in the present tense writing style). But then the subordinate clause at the end made me think there was a narrator telling me this story rather than listening in to the characters. I also expected some anecdote on who she had lied to.
After finishing reading it, I swore off reading any more Pulitzer Prize winners from this timeframe (Olive Kitteridge was my first foray and I really detested that book; see my review for just how much).
Then a funny thing happened: the movie {The} Hours (what do those braces signify?) completely ruined a book I didn't like. Watching the book converted into a vehicle for Meryl Streep (and to a lesser degree Juliette Moore and Nicole Kidman) made me appreciate the way Cunningham was true to Mrs. Dalloway's structure and characters. In the book, it is Louis (as an imitation of Peter) unexpectedly visiting Clarissa (as an imitation of Mrs. Dalloway) and crying. In the movie, the visit is planned and it is Clarissa who cries, who is the focal point of the drama. It is the impact on Clarissa, rather than Louis and Richard, that is significant. So I thought more about the book and, while I still detest the writing style (flamboyant with all that word connotes comes to mind) and don't think the point-of-view was clear or consistent, I am closer to neutral than when I finished reading it.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Firstly, this novel is a day in the life of aristocrat/socialite Clarissa Dalloway. She is finalizing preparations for a party she is hosting that evening when she is faced with a couple of unusual circumstances - her husband is attending a luncheon, with another woman, to which she was not invited - her former beau has returned from India after a 30 year absence - and someone has decided to have a bit of a life altering event that disturbs the party. The problem with this novel is I had to be a literary archaeologist to dig through all the verbiage to unearth the story. Stream of consciousness narrative buries the actual story with a multitude of sounds, sights and thoughts.

Secondly, not only did I find this book a very difficult read for that reason but also the shifts in time stream of consciousness creates. Often times paragraphs switch from present day thoughts to past events unknowingly. This made for a very uneven read, even annoying.
This is not a book to read for pleasure. One needs to be an alert, active reader. It's a lot of work.

This book should be read, not for relaxation but for a snapshot of early 20th century life, which is described quite well, when you can see it.

[dorritt_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reading Mrs. Dalloway almost 100 years after its initial publication is a thought-provoking experience. One understands that Wolfe’s experimentation in modernism – the stream-of-consciousness narration, the deliberate manipulations of time and space – were daringly new at the time of their writing. Since then, however, authors have played with these concepts and taken them in so many new directions, it’s become harder to appreciate the novelty, the literary accomplishment, of those who first set us on this path. (Imagine being expected to pay homage to the guy who invented pagers now, in the era of cell phones.) I found myself asking, as I polished off the last page: “I get why this was a big deal back in the day, but aside from literary context and some passages of lovely, artful prose, what (if anything) does this novel have to offer?”

On the one hand, the novel does explore some universal themes. For instance, many of the characters are hiding their true natures behind caricatures that either society or their own choices have forced upon them. (Richard, the politician who would really rather be a country gentleman; Peter, the colonial administrator who would really rather be a radical; Lady Bruton, the society matron who would really rather be a military leader.) It could be argued that Mrs. Dalloway is one of the few characters who doesn’t let others shape her, but instead pursues her own happiness with unusual clarity and determination. (Other reviewers have interpreted her fixation on giving parties as a sign that she is motivated by social position, but I would argue that she gives parties because she finds them interesting to HER – SHE enjoys the challenge of putting people together, of providing a context in which she exposes the true nature of others. Note how unimpressed she is when the Prime Minister shows up at her shindig? She’s far more interested in how her other guests react to his presence.)

Many of the novel’s other themes, however, are only very shallowly explored: mental instability (Septimus), the limited roles for women in society (Lady Bruton, Elizabeth, Ellie), homosexuality (Clarissa & Sally, possibly Septimus & Evan), social pretention (Hugh), people who impose their will upon others (Dr. Bradshaw). I constantly found myself referring back to contemporary texts by writers like Greene, Forster, and Lessing that explored these themes in much more comprehensive ways.

There are other aspects of the novel that fail to satisfy. I’ve tried to understand how Clarissa and Septimus are “dopplegangers,” but I’m not sure I get it – unless it’s as simple as “some people figure out how to be content with their lives, others don’t.” I’ve tried to understand the novel as a feminist text, but Mrs. Dalloway manages to find her happiness without having to challenge any social, gender, or cultural norms. I gather Wolfe at one time intended Clarissa to commit suicide at the penultimate party. While the final version of the story rejects this ending, Wolfe has left much of the foreshadowing intact (references to Clarissa’s “recent illness,” scenes in which she revisits her past life & decisions – much as authors would have us believe people nearing the end of their lives are wont to do), which feels like narrative carelessness. Finally, Wolfe’s characters – whether defined over the course of pages or paragraphs – rarely venture beyond caricatures. Her most successful character isn’t even Mrs. Dalloway - it is post-war London, the only entity to emerge from the pages vibrant, complex, and fully realized.

In summary, I think the argument can be made that Mrs. Dalloway deserves its place on any list of 100 Most Important Works of Fiction. But I’m not ready to nominate it for a spot on 100 Best Works of Fiction – not in a world gifted with 100 additional years of texts that blend literary experimentation AND essential, consequential content.

[steller0707 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"I dig out beautiful caves behind my characters; I think it gives them exactly what I want: humanity, humor, depth; the idea is that the caves shall connect, and each comes to daylight at the present moment"

This quote from Virginia Woolf's diary, and re-quoted in the Introduction to this edition written by Bonnie Kime Scott, explains a good deal of Mrs. Dalloway. It's a satire on early 20th century British society, illustrated by way of its characters. And it's a long list of characters, that are each a slice of English society known to Wolfe and described with precision in long luxurious sentences that reveal their inner thoughts and attitudes. Not only people but nature - clouds, trees , sky -are brought to life in the same way providing atmosphere.

There is not much of a plot, but the novel moves along on the metaphor of time. The "action" takes place over one day; clocks strike the hour regularly, characters mark their age by remembering when they were young.

The novel culminates in Mrs. Dalloway's party. Paraphrasing Woolf, the sky "resigns" as it pales from day light to darkness. But London doesn't; that's when the "revelry" begins.

A really wonderful book with prose to savor.