This rich introduction to the art of Virginia Woolf contains the complete texts of five short stories and eight essays, together with substantial excerpts from the longer fiction and nonfiction. An ideal volume for those encountering Woolf for the first time as well as for those already devoted to her work. Edited and with a Preface by Mitchell A. Leaska.

"I feel so intensely the delights of shutting oneself up in a little world of one's own, with pictures and music and everything beautiful."
Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out
The Voyage Out is the first novel by Virginia Woolf, published in 1915 by Duckworth; and published in the US in 1920 by Doran.
Critical reception
Writing in 1926, E. M. Forster described it as ..". a strange, tragic, inspired book whose scene is a South America not found on any map and reached by a boat which would not float on any sea, an America whose spiritual boundaries touch Xanadu and Atlantis" And,...

"Blame it or praise it, there is no denying the wild horse in us."
Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room
Jacob's Room is the third novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on 26 October 1922.
The novel centres, in a very ambiguous way, around the life story of the protagonist Jacob Flanders, and is presented entirely by the impressions other characters have of Jacob (except for those times when we do indeed get Jacob's perspective). Thus, although it could be said that the book is primarily a character study and has little in the way of plot or background, the narrative is constructed...

"The best of life is built on what we say when we're in love. It isn't nonsense, Katharine," she urged, "it's the truth, it's the only truth."
Virginia Woolf, Night and Day
Night and Day is a novel by Virginia Woolf first published on 20 October 1919. Set in Edwardian London, Night and Day contrasts the daily lives and romantic attachments of two acquaintances, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet. The novel examines the relationships between love, marriage, happiness, and success.
Dialogue and descriptions of thought and actions are used in equal amount, unlike in Woolf's later...

A bold experiment in modernist fiction, Virginia Woolf's novel Night and Day is a study in contrasts. The narrative ricochets between the lives and thoughts of two friends, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet, using the stark differences and points of similarity between them to construct an engrossingly complex and detailed portrait and social commentary.

He left everything just as it was.... Did he think he would come back?"
Jacob's Room" was the first book in Virginia Woolf's unique, experimental style, making it an important text of early Modernism. Ostensibly, the story is about the life of Jacob Flanders, the title character, who is evoked purely by other characters' perceptions and memories of him. Jacob remains an absence throughout. Elegiac in tone, the work beautifully memorializes the longing and pain of a generation that lost so many of its most promising young men to World War I.
Upon it's release E.M. Forster remarked,...

A bold experiment in modernist fiction, Virginia Woolf's novel Night and Day is a study in contrasts. The narrative ricochets between the lives and thoughts of two friends, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet, using the stark differences and points of similarity between them to construct an engrossingly complex and detailed portrait and social commentary.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below...

Originally published in 1919, this novel set in Edwardian London examines the lives and relationships of two women, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet. The contrast is illuminated by the differences between Katharine and Mary and the lives they seek. Katharine is privileged and comes from a literary background (her father was a poet), though her passion is for mathematics and astronomy. Meanwhile, Mary has a cause--to fight for women's suffrage. Can these two women find love and fulfillment or are their lives as different as night and day?