Virginia Woolf. Book 2

Virginia Woolf. Book 2: 1. The Voyage Out; 2. The Death of the Moth, and other essays; 3. A Haunted House and Other Short Stories.


1. The Voyage Out 

In The Voyage Out, one of Woolf’s wittiest, socially satirical novels, Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father’s ship, and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a modern version of the mythic voyage. Lorna Sage’s Introduction and Explanatory Notes offer guidance to the reader new to Woolf, and illuminate Woolf’s presence, not identifiable in the heroine, but in the social satire, lyricism and patterning of consciousness in one woman’s rite of passage.

The mismatched jumble of passengers provide Woolf with an opportunity to satirize Edwardian life. The novel introduces Clarissa Dalloway, the central character of Woolf's later novel, Mrs. Dalloway. Two of the other characters were modeled after important figures in Woolf's life. St John Hirst is a fictional portrayal of Lytton Strachey and Helen Ambrose is to some extent inspired by Woolf's sister, Vanessa Bell. And Rachel's journey from a cloistered life in a London suburb to freedom, challenging intellectual discourse and discovery very likely reflects Woolf's own journey from a repressive household to the intellectual stimulation of the Bloomsbury Group.


2. The Death of the Moth, and other essays

A highly acclaimed collection of twenty-eight essays, sketches, and short stories presenting nearly every facet of the author's work. "Up to the author's highest standard in a literary form that was most congenial to her" (Times Literary Supplement (London)). "Exquisitely written" (New Yorker); "The riches of this book are overwhelming" (Christian Science Monitor). Editorial Note by Leonard Woolf.


3. A Haunted House and Other Short Stories.

The stories found in A Haunted House reflect Virginia Woolf's experimental writing style and act as an enlightening introduction to the longer fiction of this pioneer novelist. Gathering works from the previously published Monday or Tuesday, as well as stories published in American and British magazines, this book compiles some of the best shorter fiction of one of the most important writers of our time.