Mrs Dalloway at 100: Virginia Woolf’s timeless novel is a work of pandemic fiction

A Hundred Years of Mrs. Dalloway - JSTOR Daily

An exemplar of modernism, Virginia Woolf's revolutionary novel explored ideas—psychology, sexuality, imperialism—that roiled the twentieth century.

Mrs Dalloway at 100: Virginia Woolf’s timeless novel is a work of pandemic fiction

Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, set on a June day in 1923, is unusual in that its two protagonists – society hostess Clarissa Dalloway and shell-shocked veteran Septimus Smith – never meet. Published 100 years ago on May 14 1925, the novel follows Clarissa as she prepares to host a party. She is visited by a former suitor, Peter Walsh, who has just returned from India. Her movements on London’s streets are intertwined with those of her husband, R…

Across the Clarissa-Verse: On 100 Years of Mrs. Dalloway

It’s impossible to sum up the novel Mrs. Dalloway without feeling like you’ve left out something essential. Recently, I attempted to describe the book to someone who’d never read Virginia Woolf. “Basically, it’s a day in the life of a woman in high-society London who’s planning a party,” I said. “It’s 1923, so World War […]

Mrs. Dalloway is not easy to read: it requires real immersion and does not offer instant catharsis while scrolling through the text on your phone between two tube stations. However, if we give ourselves the time and space to read it, we can have a wonderful experience - Woolf's magic still works today.