In cosmopolitan London of 1923, middle-aged Clarissa Dalloway, as a perfect hostess, prepares yet another social gathering when she receives an unexpected visit from her youthful love, Peter Walsh. His arrival disrupts her quiet and comfortable life, which Clarissa had chosen many years ago by marrying Richard Dalloway, a member of Parliament. She reevaluates her choices and realizes that she chose a marital life without excitement, limiting her ambitions to the title of "perfect hostess."
And while the sound of Big Ben's clock reminds of the passage of time on an otherwise ordinary summer day, the news of the tragic fate of an unknown to Clarissa hero of World War I, Septimus, overwhelms her with thoughts and feelings, as their two different worlds unite for one single moment.
In this seminal novel of world literature, Virginia Woolf captivates the reader with a narrative that travels between present and past, weaving the paths of main and secondary characters with a single thread, achieving a deep penetration into the human soul.