#TheInnerLifeofMrsDalloway #NetGalley
I have read Mrs. Dalloway at least three times. Every time I spend time with the novel, I think about, and learn something new.
Within a short novel that is structured around a single day, Woolf seems to take on all of life. There are so many themes; among them are love, regret, choices, empire, mental illness, the after effects of war, parents & children, youth & aging, and so much more.
So, I had already thought a fair amount about Mrs. Dalloway by the time I picked up this book, as noted above. Reading Mendelson’s work deepened my knowledge of, and appreciation for the book, even more.
Mendelson is a trusted guide to Woolf and Mrs. Dalloway. He focuses, to good effect, on three areas-medicine, empire and love, in sections that are based on lectures that he gave.
I recommend this title to those who are studying the novel or to those, reading it on their own, who are seeking some deeper insights.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Columbia University Press for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Pub date: 02 September 2025
Post first published on 30 December 2025
Description:
Mrs. Dalloway is a novel about almost everything. The story of a single day in London after the First World War, it travels backward and forward in time and consciousness, venturing beyond the ordinary world into epic, mythic, and mystical modes. The novel is a work of extraordinary richness, as much for its interwoven webs of meaning as for its moral and psychological vision.
Edward Mendelson explores the novel’s deepest questions, focusing on the core themes of medicine, empire, and love. He traces how Virginia Woolf thought and wrote, considering the complexities and resonances of her works. Mendelson casts Mrs. Dalloway as an extended protest against authorities that wield power over others and a defense of the equality of inner lives. He also examines the place of the book in literary history going back to Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare as well as its influence on later writers from Erich Auerbach through Zadie Smith. Both incisive and passionate, this book is at once a wide-ranging critical study of Virginia Woolf’s writing and a love letter to a great novel.
Editorial Reviews:
A rip-roaring tribute to a canonical work forged from diverse literary and philosophical traditions. ― London Review of Books
In Edward Mendelson, Virginia Woolf has found a profoundly generous and intelligent reader, one who considers Mrs. Dalloway in its full complexity. Elegant and eloquent―this book is excellent company. — Anne Fernald, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Virginia Woolf
In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf set out to “dig out beautiful caves behind [her] characters.” Edward Mendelson’s triumph of scholarship shines a light into the beautiful caves behind Woolf herself and the fascinating, complex characters, major and minor, who populate her novel: to read this masterpiece through his eyes is to appreciate anew its myriad connections, its moral vision, its humanity, and its enduring pleasure. Mrs. Dalloway offers a transformative reading experience, and Mendelson is the ideal companion to guide us, with deft erudition, through Clarissa’s day. — Francesca Wade, author of Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars
Thanks to Edward Mendelson, I’ve lived Mrs. Dalloway all over again, and seen and felt the novel anew. Rare for literary criticism to act like a revelation, but The Inner Life of Mrs. Dalloway does just that, showing how Virginia Woolf creates dramas of intimacy and epiphany in the larger contexts of empire, and medical and emotional coercion. A work of admirable acuity and ethical force. — Rosanna Warren, author of So Forth and Max Jacob: A Life in Art and Letters
About the Author:
Edward Mendelson is the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. His books include Early Auden, Later Auden: A Critical Biography (2017); Moral Agents: Eight Twentieth-Century American Writers (2015); and The Things That Matter: What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life (2007). His essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Review of Books, the New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, and the Times Literary Supplement.
Review
A rip-roaring tribute to a canonical work forged from diverse literary and philosophical traditions. ― London Review of Books
In Edward Mendelson, Virginia Woolf has found a profoundly generous and intelligent reader, one who considers Mrs. Dalloway in its full complexity. Elegant and eloquent―this book is excellent company. — Anne Fernald, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Virginia Woolf
In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf set out to “dig out beautiful caves behind [her] characters.” Edward Mendelson’s triumph of scholarship shines a light into the beautiful caves behind Woolf herself and the fascinating, complex characters, major and minor, who populate her novel: to read this masterpiece through his eyes is to appreciate anew its myriad connections, its moral vision, its humanity, and its enduring pleasure. Mrs. Dalloway offers a transformative reading experience, and Mendelson is the ideal companion to guide us, with deft erudition, through Clarissa’s day. — Francesca Wade, author of Square Haunting: Five Writers in London Between the Wars
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