Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Mrs Dalloway
    Mrs Dalloway
    Mrs Dalloway
    Audiobook7 hours

    Mrs Dalloway

    Written by Virginia Woolf

    Narrated by Juliet Stevenson

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    It is a June day in London in 1923, and the lovely Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Whom will she see? Her friend Peter, back from India, who has never really stopped loving her? What about Sally, with whom Clarissa had her life’s happiest moment? Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Smith is struggling with his life on the same London day. Luminously beautiful, Mrs Dalloway uses the internal monologues of the characters to tell a story of inter-war England. With this, Virginia Woolf changed the novel forever.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateApr 1, 2010
    ISBN9789629549374
    Author

    Virginia Woolf

    VIRGINIA WOOLF (1882–1941) was one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. An admired literary critic, she authored many essays, letters, journals, and short stories in addition to her groundbreaking novels, including Mrs. Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, and Orlando.

    Related to Mrs Dalloway

    Related audiobooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Seven Books I’ll Never Read

      Aug 7, 2018

      Seven Books I’ll Never Read
      6 min read

    • Article

      The best-ever ROMANCES

      Jan 7, 2021

      The best-ever ROMANCES
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ulysses: Good or Bad?

      Feb 2, 2018

      Ulysses: Good or Bad?
      10 min read

    • Article

      The 40 Greatest Books To Read Before You Die

      Apr 25, 2021

      Books, books, books. They will increase your lifespan, lower your stress and boost your intelligence. They will give you fuller, thicker hair. Whatever the breathless claims about reading, one thing is certain: losing yourself in a great novel is one

      14 min read

    • Article

      Second Language

      Aug 14, 2017

      Second Language
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Only Rule

      Jul 13, 2020

      There is only one rule in polite English society, but it is iron clad. Of course, polite English society is a fiction. For one thing, its members are rarely polite. Politeness is for the middle classes rather than those who live off ancestral acres o

      5 min read

    • Article

      What Ray Charles Says

      Mar 1, 2024

      The nighttime is the right time to be with the one you love, says Ray,but according to Hamlet, it’s when “churchyards yawn and hell itselfbreathes out contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood,”says Hamlet, “and do such bitter business as

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Gathering In The Kitchen

      Dec 1, 2021

      A Gathering In The Kitchen
      13 min read

    • Article

      Echoes

      Jun 22, 2022

      Echoes
      9 min read

    • Article

      Ghost Girl, Banana

      Aug 21, 2023

      By the time I was 25, there were only two things I remembered about Mumma. The first was that she smelled of watermelons, the second was that we were happy. We’d taken our father’s name of course, but a name is only half a story. The other half exist

      6 min read

    • Article

      Four Of A Kind

      May 3, 2023

      Four Of A Kind
      4 min read

    • Article

      HERNAN BAS New and Recent Work

      Dec 15, 2018

      HERNAN BAS New and Recent Work
      6 min read

    • Article

      Cherubs

      Jul 5, 2023

      Cherubs
      10 min read

    • Article

      Two Poems

      Nov 1, 2018

      Our house in the 100-year flood plainflooded. They say thatfor another 800 years a hurricanelike this will not come. My internetis down and my smart phone hurts my thumbsarthritic. I’m running out of data.All my books are in boxes. Please referto my

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Jun 16, 2021

      Great Read
      4 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      J. Jezewska Stevens

      Dec 15, 2017

      The party was a failure. I can’t even tell you what a failure it was. There are no words. Only a great pain in my chest when I wake up. On the veranda. It’s better when I sit in the chair. Oh, but then I can see around. The gauzy curtains, pushed by

      15 min read

    • Article

      They Called Her the Witch

      Dec 15, 2019

      They called her the Witch, the same as her mother; the Girl Witch when she first started trading in curses and cures, and then, when she wound up alone, the year of the landslide, simply the Witch. If she’d had another name, scrawled on some timeworn

      26 min read

    • Article

      Dawn Neesom Mind Of My Own

      Sep 20, 2022

      As the nation mourns, let us remember an extraordinary woman who was devoted to us all until the very end. She was only a woman. Just like us, she loved, laughed, rowed with and worried about her family. But she was also unique. A woman born to a de

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Mrs Dalloway

    4/5

    498 ratings175 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      There does seem to one glitch in the recording but overall wonderfully read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Not the most entertaining book but an interesting writing style. Needs good concentration to not miss a change in the storyline.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      very good but its not consistent some were repeated or cut off

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      MRS DALLOWAY is a stream-of-consciousness look at one day in the life of a society matron and the people she comes into contact with. While Clarissa Dalloway is at the centre, Woolf devotes equal care to those who surround her. The point of view flits from character to character with the speed of thought, and the result is a beautiful, unconventional novel in which plot takes a backseat to character development.I adore good characterization, and Woolf's is lovely. She gives us a real feel for who each of these people is as she invites us to ride around inside their heads and view the world through their eyes. Over a very short period of time, we learn a great deal about each and every one of them. And we don't just see how they view themselves; Woolf also shows us how those around them perceive them. I'll tell you up front, I'm an absolute sucker for anything that invites me to consider its characters in this way. The contrast between each character's view of herself and the way others see her is one of the novel's strongest qualities.The prose is equally good. Even though Woolf deals with the minutia of everyday life, I found the story strange and dreamlike. I think this is due, in large part, to the sudden shifts in POV. One moment, we're hard into Clarissa's perspective; the next, we're deep in Peter Walsh's mind. From him, we jump to someone else... and then to someone else again... and again... and again... Even though the story is grounded in reality, the storytelling makes it feel as though it isn't. It's nicely done.It does, however, make the book a bit difficult to sink into, especially if you've put it down for a while. I had some troubles in that area, and occasionally found that I just couldn't go back to it. I'd read a few lines and decide I needed another break. It's for this reason, more than anything else, that I've decided to pass it along to someone else. I enjoyed it, and I think I'll likely want to read it again, but I doubt I'll return to it any time soon. And when I do, I'm sure there'll be an obliging library or book market ready and waiting to provide me with another copy.(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina).

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      The story told in steam of consciousness takes place in one day. Clarissa Dallaway is having a party that day. The time period is interwar time period. The book addresses women and the restrictions of the milieu has on their activities. Women are restricted politically and must work through men. Ideas are judged on the basis of class and gender. We also have the shell-shocked veteran (PTSD) of WWI who disintegrates, thinks of suicide, and a very astute picture of how doctor's (males) of the time, made decisions without regard to what patient or family really needed. This is another hot issue of the time in which this book is written. There were opinions that it was nothing, malingerers or psychologically unfit. The one doctor is of the opinion that it is nothing and the other takes it seriously and says Septimus must go to home and learn to rest. There is the comparison of Mrs Dallaway to Ulysses (Joyce). Both stories take place in a day. I also would say, that The Garden Party which also occurs in one day and involves a young woman and a death that occurs during a party. For Clarissa, the "continuous present" (Gertrude Stein's phrase) of her charmed youth at Bourton keeps intruding into her thoughts on this day in London. For Septimus, the "continuous present" of his time as a soldier during the "Great War" keeps intruding, especially in the form of Evans, his fallen comrade.More on mental illness; The author is critical of the medical community and is critical of the treatment of depression and PTSD (shell shock). Clarissa and Septimus never meet each other. Their realities are different. It depicts how one person's mental illness never impacts others. And something I didn't know; There are similarities in Septimus' condition to Woolf's struggles with bipolar disorder. Both hallucinate that birds sing in Greek, and Woolf once attempted to throw herself out of a window as Septimus does. Woolf had also been treated for her condition at various asylums, from which her antipathy towards doctors developed. Woolf committed suicide by drowning, sixteen years after the publication of Mrs Dalloway. Septimus is Clarissa's double (according to Woolf).

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Mrs. Dalloway is easily my favorite Virginia Woolf I've read so far. It all takes place on one June day in 1923, starting with 50ish Clarissa Dalloway preparing to give a party that night. An old unconventional flame, Peter Walsh, appears in town, and she reminisces about her younger life and her thirty year marriage to staid, reliable Richard Dalloway. She also remembers her passionate friendship with rebellious Sally Seton, with whom she shared a kiss. The second major storyline involves a shell-shocked WWI veteran, Septimus Smith, who has lost the ability to feel emotion, and is becoming delusional. There are many other well-drawn characters. Clarissa's party brings most of the principal characters together, and illuminates various dissatisfactions and shortcomings they have, even as the party seems to be a cacophonous success. Beautifully written, with skillful weaving of different time elements, and a bevy of characters the reader understands and develops strong feelings about. Reminded me a bit of Joyce's famous short story, "The Dead", but I liked this much more.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This book has no chapters and is basically the stream of consciousness of Mrs Dalloway during one day. It was difficult to read without the natural chapter breaks. The style also didn't suit me--the author just lists random things that the character has seen without explaining why they are relevant or what they relate to. She does this in the middle of other trains of thought which can be confusing. There was nothing offensive about this book, I just didn't get on with it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      woman plans to kill herself or have a dinner party

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Mrs. Dalloway is a portrait of a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a middle-aged, upper-class British woman. On this particular day, she is preparing for the party she will host in the evening — buying flowers, readying her house, etc. Although on the outside a charming woman with a talent for bringing people together, on the inside Clarissa is an endless stream of memories, longings, and doubts about the choices she has made.We are also transported, at times, into the psyches of some of the people she comes into contact with, including her husband Richard Dalloway, who can’t verbally express his love for his wife, and her old flame Peter Walsh, who has just returned from India. Reading these perspectives and their thoughts about Clarissa give us a deeper, more complex understanding of her – who she is now and who she used to be. We see her horror of death, the joy she takes in throwing parties (a joy considered petty by some), the way she has sacrificed passion for conventionality, and how the passage of time has changed her. Parallel to Mrs. Dalloway’s story is the narrative of Septimus Smith, a suicidal, insane ex-soldier who is unable to translate his experiences into words.I really, really loved the language in this book. There were times that I didn’t even care about what was going on in the plot — just absorbing the lyrical, rhythmic prose was more than enough. I can’t tell you how many passages I underlined, either for their poetic beauty or the way they conveyed a tiny, shattering truth.“The sun might go in and out, on the tassels, on the wallpaper, but he would wait, he thought, stretching out his feet, looking at his ringed sock at the end of the sofa; he would wait in this warm place, this pocket of still air, which one comes on at the edge of a wood sometimes in the evening, when, because of a fall in the ground, or some arrangement of the trees (one must be scientific above all, scientific), warmth lingers, and the air buffets the cheek like the wing of a bird.”Mrs. Dalloway made me feel all the feels. I felt the beauty of a hot June day in London, the vibrant but unsettling mentality of the mentally ill, the melancholy sadness of seeing a wild life become small, the doubt over the value of the life one leads, the impossibility of ever really knowing anyone, the fear (and conversely, the embracing) of death, and the way experience/age deepens feeling.I loved this book, but I don’t feel like I fully understood it. I can tell that some of the symbolism went over my head and that there were many connections I failed to make. And I’m okay with that. This is a book I will definitely return to, and I will enjoy digging deeper in future reads. I really want to read more of Woolf’s work and more about Woolf, herself. I want to know about her life and her themes so that I can understand her writing more fully.Read the full review at Books Speak Volumes.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf in two days. I could not put it down. I truly believe that it takes some knowledge of her as a writer to appreciate her work and getting to know Clarissa Dalloway is no exception. If the reader is unfamiliar with Woolf’s style and history, this book is hard to follow. Her back and forth movement that she manipulates the reader through one day of her characters' life is brilliant. In one day she gives us thier lifetime. This is defiantly not a casual read, your mind must work enjoined with novel to get the full effect. It is a remarkable testament to Woolf’s creativity and courage as a female writer in her time.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      This title is defective -- some segments are repeated and others are omitted.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I reluctantly gave it a high mark because I was eventually won over. She has lots of good moments in the writing, starting with her appreciation of 'life', especially in the context of the recent war, and the wonderful description of a June day. There is a note of regret throughout, about her charmed, but naive youth, and turning down an interesting man's marriage proposal, although he turns out to be hopeless. There are no chapters and the mental meanderings are a bit purple and prolonged at times. But the knives come out for poor Miss Kilman, (interesting choice of name), the Christian who is clearly hated by Dalloway and I imagine by Virginia. Ugly sweaty and poor, though principled. Her influence on daughter Elizabeth seems unlikely. And finally what is it about the Love interest, Peter's pocket knife, which he is constantly fiddling with?

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      “Mrs. Dalloway” is a classic, considered by some to be the finest modern novel. That sort of recommendation is enough to make me approach carefully; I’m not educated enough to fully appreciate the great works and I find reading them a chore. But I’m happy to say that, although I found the first bit tedious, it didn’t take me long to get sucked into the story. It’s not that the plot is engaging; there is almost no plot. The book is merely a record of one day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, and that of a few of her friends, and some people that she passes by. We are given access to their thoughts as they go about their day. Clarissa buys flowers, mends a dress, and gives a party. She hosts a visitor, just back from India. She thinks about a girl from her school days, with whom she had been in love. Septimus Smith, suffering from PTSD from WW I and the loss of a fellow soldier with whom he’d been in love, quietly sinks into a fatal madness. The stream of consciousness leads us seamlessly through the minds of these people; there are no chapters to provide breaking points. Wolff’s prose is simply beautiful; she describes the everyday moments that are usually forgotten or ignored as things of beauty. But the book is not just pretty prose; there is surprising depth to some of the characters. Clarissa and Septimus, in particular, although not directly connected, seem to be two sides of the questions of life and death. Five stars.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The first time I read this book it fell flat. Several years later I read The Hours, which is based on Mrs Dalloway, and thought it was wonderful, which made me think I should re-read the original someday. And this time I appreciated it so much more; in fact, I loved it. From the opening sentence, when Clarissa Dalloway leaves her house to buy flowers for a party she is hosting that evening, I was immediately immersed in the atmosphere of a beautiful London morning. Woolf moves seamlessly from Clarissa to other characters and other places, using events like a passing car to get the reader to “look” in another direction and observe other vignettes in the London scene. This flow continues throughout the novel, as Clarissa prepares for the party and others go about their days. Some characters will attend the party; others have more symbolic dramatic roles. By the end of the party, the characters have all been woven together into a tight and often moving narrative flow.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I finally got around to reading this one. Over forty years ago I was taking this seminar from a renowned scholar of existentialism and this was on the reading list. Unfortunately, the week I was supposed to have discussed the book at his home with about a dozen other students I was being hammered with other course work (most notably in chemistry), and despite its short length I had to fake my way through the evening. Too bad, because this is a brilliantly written novel, deceivingly light in comparison to its obvious influences, the recent works by Joyce and Proust. But it is anything but light despite its readability. Highly recommended.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I've never read anything quite like this. At first I found the long, complex sentences to be too much, but I got into the swing of it eventually. By the end I was really enjoying the way the stories almost came together, just glancing, never really involving each other. My friend really loves Woolf and described her writing as lyrical, washing over you like waves. I get what she was saying now.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I was quite leery of reading Mrs. Dalloway, my second Virginia Woolf as I wasn’t a fan of my first attempt, Jacob’s Room. Once again the dreaded words “stream of consciousness” arose and I approached the book with trepidation. I chose to listen to the book as read by Juliet Stevenson, and this was an excellence choice as she did a stellar job and made the book come alive.Mrs. Dalloway is a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a high society woman in post WW I England. Mrs. Dalloway’s main concerns revolve around relationships and connections. On this particular day she is preparing to host a party and as she goes through the day getting ready for the evening, she muses on her past relationships and how her life has turned out. One gets the sense that somewhere along the way, she has lost her inner self to the Mayfair hostess she shows to the outside world.We don’t spend the whole book locked in Mrs. Dalloways’ head. There is another storyline that runs parallel to that of Clarissa’s. This one involves a war veteran, Septimus Smith and his wife Lucrezia. Septimus is suffering from post traumatic stress and although he and Clarissa do not meet on this day, his actions are to affect her. We also meet and are given an insight into her past with encounters with her past suitor, Peter Walsh and her childhood best friend Sally Seton.Surprise, surprise! I loved this book. The author was able to place me inside this woman’s head and make me privy to her inner most thoughts. Although some would find her shallow and selfish, I found myself relating to her. I think most everyone thinks about their choices and wonder what life would be like if they had chosen a different path. This is a short book but is packed with unforgettable images and beautiful language and ultimately is a story about wasted potential.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      masterpiece by one of the greatest writers in English literary history, Mrs. Dalloway is both a moving and innovative novel that breaks new ground in the representation of inner experience. A day in the life of a London woman, Clarissa Dalloway, Woolf's novel is a meditation on time, perception, memory and experience. Informed by the great novelists of the previous century as well as contemporary trends in philosophy, art and literature, Mrs. Dalloway is a towering achievement by an extraordinary artist.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I've been thinking about this book, on and off, since I finished listening to it. It didn't so much end as just stopped... but I may be mistaken about that. It seems so transparent, like clear topical water, but has surprising depth once you step in. Definitely, definitely need to read/listen to this one again.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Finally finished, after nearly two years. I'm not sorry I made the effort to read this, despite it not being my sort of thing. Woolf's writing style is unlike anyone else's, and I have developed my intellect by reading an act nobody can follow. The stream of consciousness technique is intriguing but I found it tiring to read - because it's so different from the usual things-happen way of things, maybe. For me, deciding to read a book like this is a commitment. A decision is taken to read, and not taken lightly. There are all sorts of lighter books I might have spent this time on instead, and although I alternated this reading journey with hundreds of other books, I continued it to its end. Thank you, Ms. Woolf.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      this is my favorite novel but this audiobook has two parts that are repeated and then the subsequent scenes are missing... a little annoying. doesn't take away from how good the novel is though. also, Juliet Stevenson is great as narrator.
    • 5/5
      Virginia Woolf would be proud to hear this recording! I am completely drawn in!!!
    • 4/5
      It is a hugely important piece of literature that should be ready by everyone.

      There are a couple of issues with the edit of the audio book. Twice, the narrator repeats the same part of the story and then skips ahead, missing out parts of the text. As I was reading the book along with the audio, I could find the place it had skipped to, but it would have been very confusing without the text in front of me.
    • 5/5
      Extraordinary command of English language. A spellbinding and haunting vision, a masterpiece.
    • 5/5
      She had felt that was true of life—one scratched on the wall.
    • 2/5
      I enjoyed the book and the narrator had a good voice for it, but the production itself was terrible. There were multiple pronunciation errors, parts of it looped for some reason (not sure if that was the app’s fault or the recording), and it ends so abruptly that I’m not 100% sure that’s actually how it’s supposed to end! If I want to be sure I’ll have to track down the real book.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful amazing book! Woolf’s luminous prose has the capacity to make me cry each time I come back to it. Beautifully read by Juliet Stevenson.
    • 5/5
      This book is so hard to stop reading because of the style of writing, the story continues on stream-of-consciousness that’s very satisfying to listen to. The narrator is also wonderful.
    • 3/5
      Op zich een relatief mager, dun verhaaltje, over 1 dag in juni 1923 in Londen; maar zeer ruime diepgang. Thema’s: oud worden, vriendschap onmogelijk, eenzaamheid, schone schijn en innerlijke leegheid tegenover gevoel en avontuur. Vorm: innerlijke monologen en omniscient beschrijvingen, maar 1 grote golf, continue stroom.Centrale thema: waanzin en gezond verstand. Onverbiddelijkheid van de tijd. Zeer compacte schrijfstijl met korte tussenzinnen, vol impressies; erg joyceaans, techniek van nevenschikkende reacties, telkens verschuivend perspectief, en de rijdende auto als tussengewoven draad; verwantschap met The Dead
    • 1/5
      Oh my was I disappointed?!
      This one is better than 'to the lighthouse', that's for sure. But, it was dull, boring, uninteresting, confusing. I skimmed through it and understood the story, some ideas were good, some descriptions were good, she can write, but she's not my cup of tea. This didn't irritate me as much as 'to the lighthouse' , but it was very .. what's the word? ... meh! Very meh! I don't know why everyone like it so much, I frankly don't understand the hype around Woolf, her writing is incoherent. She is the only one who really knows about her characters, they keep appearing out of nowhere, many narrators, lots of names, lost of things she mentions hastily, things we do not know, I dare say she is a snobbish egocentric writer who doesn't feel like giving the reader a chance to understand her mind, or her plot. lots of missing information, cold writing style, and it isn't cool or smart, it's just as if she doesn't want to share with the reader, it only makes perfect sense to her, and we gotta put the pieces together while she's turning her back to us... Camus was very cold in 'the stranger' , but he wasn't deluding or confusing the reader. This is my piece of mind, anyways, this writer is overrated, I believe! Many contemporary writers have more respect for their readers' intellect than she did.