Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

To start the list of fascinating about the book, the entire sequence of events spans over a day. Set in post world War I London, the author meticulously covers all the relevant details and anecdotes from the past, finely knitted with the events of the day.

A descriptive account of the lives of Clarissa Dalloway, wife of a politician and Septimus Warren Smith, a world war veteran, the story focuses on the two and those around them, swiftly moving from one character to other, precisely carving out the narrative. Beginning with Clarissa Dalloway’s preparations for a party she is to host that evening, the story moves forward as she goes around finishing the tasks on her list, simultaneously mulling over the decisions she had taken in her life. The narration keeps going back and forth in time as the day moves forward, introducing all the other characters in her life.

In other part of the city, we are introduced to Septimus Warren Smith, a victim to hallucinations and sufferings caused by his traumatic experience and loss of a childhood friend on the battlefield in the First World War. As the story unfolds and we move from one character to other, we are tempted to marvel the beauty with which the dilemmas, the complexity, the humane side of each have been brought out. 

The story also introduces us to the societal set up of post-war Britain, giving a peek of the post-war trauma, a glimpse of the horror that soldiers lived through. The vivid representation of human characters, the wide spectrum and depth of human emotions, drawn out with such excellence; the minor to major details and the visual definitions are sure to leave you awestruck and marveling over the author’s ability to cover finer details with such magnificence.

All in all, the book is a gem, an artwork of its own kind. The consciousness mode writing by Virginia Woolf leaves you at the lack of words, for the ease, with which she has narrated the story, is beyond wonderful. The later part of the book seems to be a reflection of the author’s own mind through Clarissa Dalloway. No words are enough to appreciate the glimpse of that web of wisdom.