Beneath the glittering facade of a single day in 1920s London, Clarissa Dalloway is haunted by the ghosts of her past as she prepares for a grand party that could define her social world. Each step through the bustling city stirs up memories of lost loves and hidden desires, blurring the lines between who she is and who she might have been. Meanwhile, Septimus Warren Smith, a war-ravaged soldier, wrestles with visions that threaten his hold on reality, his anguish casting a dark shadow over Clarissa's vibrant life. In their parallel journeys, the novel reveals the poignant fragility of identity and the ways we are shaped by memory and time.
Mrs. Dalloway stands as a landmark in modernist literature, revolutionizing the way stories are told by capturing the inner lives of its characters with profound intimacy. Through its pioneering use of stream-of-consciousness, Woolf explores the complex layers of memory, identity, and trauma in post-World War I society. The novel not only paints a vivid portrait of 1920s London but also raises timeless questions about the pressures of social roles and the struggles with mental health. Woolf's work broke new ground, inspiring generations of writers to delve deeper into the psyche and redefine narrative form.
Sometimes the hardest part about a book club meeting is picking the next book. Some clubs plan their entire year of titles in advance. But for many of us, the process isn't that organized. Here are ten low-lift ideas for choosing your next book club book.
It's interesting to look back at pop culture that withstands the test of time. It's time for our annual roundup series of books having a milestone birthday this year. By all accounts, 1925 was a banner year for literature! Here are ten of the titles turning one hundred that still have a place on our shelves.
Told from the point of view of the enslaved Jim, Percival Everett's latest novel, James, is a brilliant, action-packed retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. If you enjoy stories that reimagine, reframe, or pay homage to classic texts, here are fifteen more titles for you.
The film adaptation for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes comes out in just a few months and we're getting ready by revisiting the books and the films in the series. We've also put together a reading list of classic literature that matches up with some of the key characters. Check it out!
Lately we’ve been asking you to share photos of your books with us. Whether shelves or stacks or armfuls, there’s something so beautiful about seeing the way you display these treasured belongings. Here we discuss the important question of how we arrange our beloved books.