REVIEW: Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)

Book: Mrs Dalloway

Author: Virginia Woolf

My rating: 5/5.

Premise: Mrs Dalloway captures the events of one June day in London, moment by moment, as different lives collide. Clarissa Dalloway, the glamorous wife of an MP, is preparing for a party she is giving that evening, and remembering those she once loved. In another part of the city, Septimus Smith is being driven mad by shell shock. As the day draws to an end, different worlds, past, present and future, are brought together.

I adored this book and I feel a second reading is needed, maybe in June to match the setting. Mrs Dalloway is basically people watching in book form. Woolf writes in streams of consciousness, almost lyrical, as she meanders from one character to another, following their thoughts, memories, and even just how they take in their surroundings. It took me a couple of attempts to get into the style and I had to approach it as if someone was reading it aloud. But once I got into it, the feelings and descriptions were gorgeous! It made me miss sitting in a café watching people go about their lives. Woolf explores different personalities, covering big topics like social pressure and PTSD, but also just analysing basic human behaviours - being judgmental, having regrets, differing opinions. There were bits of every character that I could relate to. Utterly beautiful!