Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Kindle & Audible: US or CA
Morning Readers & Happy Wednesday!
Now that spring is easing its way into longer days, the home garden is planted and work at the garden center has slowed down somewhat, I’ve finally found a few more moments to read. This does mean I will be trying to post 3-times a week, Mon-Wed-Friday, to catch up on Reviews for books I’ve already read, and to make my way through my TBR! My ultimate goal is to read and review 100 books this year!
So, introducing my lucky #13, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. I feel like I’d heard a lot of buzz surrounding the author lately and this book in particular seemed to be a great jumping point. While it did take a few solid pages to get used to the language and style of writing, it was well worth the perseverance and I completely understand how this became a classic.
Having had no prior knowledge or context for the book and author I was about 2/3rd’s of the way through before I had to google a sneaky suspicion that kept creeping up on me. If You Know, You Know. The author’s history suddenly explained so much and I was mildly taken back at how she approached her own subject matter, especially as a topic of conversation for the time period.
An irony, unrelated to the book itself, is that while Woolf was writing this book in England in 1925, another book I’ve been listening to, Betty, briefly starts a family history in that same time frame in Idaho, US. In style and literal content these two books are incomparable, but the undertones of death, depression, trauma, and life are intangibly there. Like something just below the surface of the water that you can’t quite see, but you know is there and I think it’s a beautiful example of how different stories can contribute to the same tapestry without ever really quite touching.
My only critic is that despite being written over 100 years after Pride & Prejudice, and assuming that linguistically it should be closer to modern use of the English language, it was actually a little harder to keep track of.
So, if you’re a lover of the classics, or looking for one to dip your toes into the pond with, I would definitely recommend this one. While I wouldn’t say it was life-changing hard-cover worthy, it will absolutely end up being one of those leatherbound classics that finds it’s way onto my shelf!
Happy Reading!
-Anna R.
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Kindle & Audible: US or CA
The Weekend Readers 
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