Night and Day

Night and Day by Virginia Woolf

Night and Day is a novel by Virginia Woolf, first published in 1919. It follows the lives of two friends, Katharine Hilbery and Mary Datchet, as they navigate the complexities of love, marriage, and social expectations in Edwardian England. Katharine is the daughter of a wealthy and influential family, and is expected to marry a suitable man and settle down. Mary is a working-class woman who is determined to make her own way in the world. As their lives intersect, they must confront their own desires and expectations, and the expectations of society. The novel is set in London and its suburbs, and follows the characters through their daily lives. It is a story of love, friendship, and the struggle to find one's place in the world. It is also a meditation on the nature of time, and how it shapes our lives.

By Virginia Woolf · First published 1919 · Genre: Modernist Literature, Feminist Literature, Romance · 34 chapters · 167,096 words

First lines

It was a Sunday evening in October, and in common with many other young ladies of her class, Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea. Perhaps a fifth part of her mind was thus occupied, and the remaining parts leapt over the little barrier of day which interposed between Monday morning and this rather subdued moment, and played with the things one does voluntarily and normally in the daylight. But although she was silent, she was evidently mistress of a situation which was familiar enough to her, and inclined to let it take its way for the six hundredth time, perhaps, without bringing into play any of her unoccupied faculties. A single glance was enough to show that Mrs. Hilbery was so rich in the gifts which make tea-parties of elderly distinguished people successful, that she scarcely needed any help from her daughter, provided that the tiresome business of teacups and bread and butter was discharged for her.

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Biographers · Domestic fiction · Family relationships · Fiction · London (England) · Love stories · Mothers and daughters · Novel · Poets · Triangles (Interpersonal relations) · Young women · cassandra

Contents

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