The Voyage Out

Classics for Your Collection: goo.gl/U80LCr --------- Virginia Woolf's First Viterary Debut Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father's ship and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a kind of modern mythical voyage. The mismatched jumble of passengers provide Woolf with an opportunity to satirise Edwardian life. The novel introduces Clarissa Dalloway, the central character of Woolf's later novel, Mrs Dalloway. Two of the other characters were modelled 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. This is a wonderful story which is packed full of stunning descriptions of place - both interior and exterior; unique and eccentric characters; sensitive evocations of a variety of human emotions; moods and memories; wishes and regrets. Virginia Woolf writes a smorgasbord for the senses and peppers it with provocative comments on social issues. 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.