To The Lighthouse

Two brief episodes, separated by a decade and the First World War, provide a glimpse into the personalities and relationships that make up the Ramsay family. In both instances, as the family visits their summer home in the Isle of Skye, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay in turn contemplate their life choices and their marriage.

Thoughtful and introspective, To the Lighthouse is an impressive example of both stream of consciousness narrative and early modernist literature, which favours philosophical contemplation over action and plot. The most autobiographical of Woolf's novels, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay were based in part upon her own parents, and it's through their lives that she effectively explores the devastating impact of war upon British society. To the Lighthouse has been named one of the top one hundred books in English literature by both Time Magazine and the Modern Library.