Mrs Dalloway
Virginia Woolf’s novel chronicles a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a politician’s wife in 1920s London, as she prepares to host a party that evening. The narrative follows Clarissa’s thoughts (and sometimes those of people she meets) as she goes about her errands, and events in the day remind her of her youth and friendships from the past. As the book progresses characters from the past emerge, igniting old feelings and making Clarissa question the life she has created for herself. *Mrs. Dalloway* became the inspiration for Michael Cunningham’s 1998 novel *The Hours*.
Where Mrs Dalloway keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about Mrs Dalloway
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
On a June day in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway walks across London buying flowers for her party that night. Across the city, a shell-shocked young veteran sits with his wife on a park bench. The two stories meet by evening.
Yes. Mrs Dalloway uses a stream-of-consciousness style that flows between characters' minds across a single June day in 1923 London. The technique takes adjustment, but the prose is musical and rewarding for patient readers.
Mrs Dalloway was published in 1925. It is in the public domain in the United States; copyright in the UK and EU has lapsed (Virginia Woolf died in 1941). Modern annotated editions remain copyrighted.
Mrs Dalloway was written by Virginia Woolf, published in 1925 by RBA..
Mrs Dalloway is 224 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Mrs Dalloway takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
Mrs Dalloway is a standalone novel by Virginia Woolf, not part of a series.
Mrs Dalloway is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
