The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Description

The Waves is an experimental novel by English writer Virginia Woolf, first published in 1931. The book has seven characters: Bernard (a story-teller), Louis (an outsider), Neville (who may have been partly based on Lytton Strachey), Jinny (a socialite), Susan (a mother), Rhoda (a solitary woman), and Percival (the hero). Whilst the first six have monologues that make up the novel, the reader never hears the latter speak in his own voice. The Waves explores ideas of individualism and self as it follows the narrators from childhood to adulthood. The thoughts by the characters are broken up by nine interludes that detail a coastal scene. Whilst not one of Woolf's most famous books, it is very highly regarded and was voted the 16th greatest British novel ever written in a 2015 BBC poll.

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