Why a Booktrail?
1920s: Mrs Dalloway is preparing for a high -society party in post war London
Mrs Dalloway
What you need to know before your trail
Clarissa Dalloway is getting ready to host a party that evening. As she wanders around London getting things ready, she is reminded of when she was young and the carefree days she spent spent in the countryside in Bourton. She wonders about her choice of husband; she married the reliable Richard Dalloway instead of the enigmatic Peter Walsh and there was even someone else less acceptable… When Peter turns up that morning old memories come back to the surface.
Also in the park that morning is Septimus Warren Smith, a First World War veteran suffering from deferred traumatic stress. Septimus is tormented by hallucinations, mostly concerning his dear friend Evans who died in the war. He is heading somewhere no one wants to follow him to.
Clarissa finds about about this man Septimus and the party takes a different turn.
Travel Guide
The cold lonely London of Clarissa Dalloway
10 Downing Street
The government offices represent the old establishment
Big Ben
Big Ben, a symbol of England and its might sounds out the hour relentlessly, ensuring that the passage of time, and the awareness of eventual death, is always palpable. Characters sit contemplate what time and the lack of it means. Life is circular like the Tube stations and not linear like time itself
Regent’s Park
There is a really old woman who is always standing and singing at the Regent’s Park Tube station – she is always singing the same song.
Piccadilly Circus
Richard Dalloway complains about the terrible traffic at Piccadilly Circus. Turns out this was a problem even then!
Hatchard’s Bookshop
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Mrs Dalloway
Author/Guide: Virginia Woolf Destination: London Departure Time: 1920s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
