Without an iota of doubt, Virginia Woolf is one of the path-breaking authors of all time and her works are at the root of the modernist revolution of literature. 

Born on January 25, 1882, London, Woolf pioneered the usage of non-linear narrative through her essays and books. Through her works, she presented internal perspectives and altered the course of modernist and postmodernist literature.  

Her essays are a profound inquiry into reading and writing, the novel and the arts, perception and essence, war and peace, class and politics, privilege and discrimination prevailing in the 20th century.  

Also read: Virginia Woolf, English author who revolutionised Literature

Long before the second wave of feminism, Virginia Woolf argued that women’s experience, particularly in the women’s movement, could be the basis for transformative social change. Hence, her works are also pillars for understanding the progression of the feminist movements. 

On her birth anniversary, we present five essential books by Virginia Woolf to read: 

Mrs Dalloway (1925)

In ‘Mrs Dalloway’, Woolf narrates the story of Clarissa Dalloway, a high-society English woman, in post-World War I London. Through Clarissa’s thoughts, Woolf paints a picture of society at the time.

This novel is as patterned as a Post-Impressionist painting and is a prime example of a stream of consciousness narrative, as the reader navigates their way through Clarissa’s thoughts and her world, creating a sense of intimacy with the character.

To the Lighthouse (1927)

‘To the Lighthouse’ is a touching story about a certain Ramsay family, who lived in a house on the coast of Scotland. The profoundly elegiac novel traces the hardships of the family and the threads of human emotion.

The vivid, yet humane, descriptions make the book a one to truly cherish. 

Orlando: A Biography (1928)

Described by Jorge Luis Borges as Woolf’s ‘most intense novel, and one of the most singular of our era’, ‘Orlando’ revolves around the story of a male protagonist, an aristocratic poet, and explores the key ideas of gender and identity, against the backdrop of characters time-travelling and meeting important literary figures across the ages. 

The Waves (1931)

The book delves into the notions of identity, individuality and society through individual six monologues, one by each of the book’s main characters.

‘The Waves’ treads between the fine boundary of poetry and prose and can definitely be listed as another masterpiece from Woolf.

A Room of One’s Own (1929)

In this essay, Woolf knits together an imaginary character: Shakespeare’s sister. Although talented quite as much Shakespeare himself, her story is not one of success. Instead, she commits suicide, frustrated by the inability to express her genius in the male-dominated world in which she lives.

Through ‘A Room of One’s Own’ Woolf brings forward the evident gender bias and tries the claims of women being unable to channel their creativity and genius in the absence of money and a space of their own. 

This particularly reads out as a seminal feminist text, and is essential reading for everyone.