Just Finished Reading: The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf (FP: 1915)

24 year old Rachel Vinrace is barely educated and less than worldly wise. Allowed from an early age to follow her interests she has become a quietly accomplished and largely self-taught musician. Lacking focus she drifts through life and is present on her father’s trans-Atlantic steamer to accompany her Aunt and Uncle to South America. At a coaling stop they pick up further passengers – Mr and Mrs Dalloway – who dazzle everyone with their style and elegance. Everything is going well until Mr Dalloway kisses Rachel in private. Never been kissed before she has no idea what to do and seeks the advice of her Aunt Mrs Helen Ambrose. Seeing her niece completely out of her depth emotionally she convinces Rachel’s father to allow her to accompany them to South America in order to educate her in the ways of the world and return her to London as a woman worthy of marriage. Living in a villa overlooking the harbour and within easy walking distance of the nearby hotel frequented by foreigners Rachel begins her journey coming out in what counts as society in such a faraway place. Over subsequent months the two will meet a host of characters from across the social spectrum of polite society, play cards (and tennis), go on trips (and picnics), talk a great deal about events of the day back home and the place of women in the modern world. There will be music, dancing and the possibility of love – and not just for Rachel Vinrace.

I remember trying some Woolf many years ago and crashing and burning quite badly. It’s possible that I might have tried one of her later modernist classics rather than this simple linear narrative. Although saying that I doubt very much indeed if, 35+ years ago, I would have had the patience to finish it. Despite liking her style and really liking a number of its characters very much indeed – especially Helen Ambrose and Mrs Dalloway – I still took an almost unprecedented 2-3 weeks to read just under 450 pages. It wasn’t that the book was difficult to read (it wasn’t) or that it was boring (it wasn’t really despite the fact that very little actually happened) it was just a combination of things that made it drag out day after day. It most certainly hasn’t put me off reading any more of her works. I want to see how her style progresses as her prowess advances and she because an outlier for modernist literature. I also way to find out more about Mrs Dalloway as Woolf later wrote a whole book about a very subsidiary character in this novel. I’m completely intrigued by that!

As always with this kind of book you get interesting little insights into the thoughts and beliefs of the time even if spoken through fictionalised mouths. I was intrigued by the regular discussion of a woman’s place in modern society and there were mentions of Suffrage throughout. Despite its publication date WW1 was only slightly hinted at in the context of flying. Though interestingly one of the female characters was planning on travelling to Russia to join the long anticipated revolution there. There were also numerous (and to me rather surprising) hints about sex and sexuality. As I couldn’t help comparing the style and plot to Jane Austen novels I was a bit taken aback by that. The most surprising thing though was the regular distain for organised religion and the assumption by several of the characters that Atheism was self-evident. For an English novel of that time and, presumably, aimed at the upper middle class reader I found this very surprising indeed. Despite the slowness of the read (mostly my own fault I think) I will recommend this to anyone interested in a gentile read and an insight into the Edwardian mindset.