Mrs. Dalloway recounts a day in June 1923 in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a high society London lady. The book describes her morning running errands to prepare for a party she will host that evening, and then the party itself. It is written in the stream of consciousness style, moving back and forth in time, depicting thoughts, images and memories that construct a picture of her life and those of the other characters in a web of interwoven stories that that provide a tableau of post-First World War England. The lovely day reminds her of her youth and makes her wonder about her marriage to the practical Richard Dalloway instead the more dynamic Peter Walsh, who has just returned from India and pays her a visit that morning. She also wonders about her romantic interest in a female friend that could go no further than a single kiss due to social taboos. At the same time, in the park, Peter observes Septimus Smith, a veteran suffering from PTSD who is beset by frequent hallucinations, mostly featuring a friend who had died in the war. Later that day he jumps out a window to his death after he is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Most of the people wh.o appear in the book attend the party that night, which is a success. The book is often compared to James Joyce’s Ulysses due to its structural and stylistic similarities. Mrs Dalloway was included on TIME Magazine's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since its first issue in 1923.

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