To the Lighthouse

“A sort of transaction went on between them, in which she was on one side, and life was on another, and she was always trying to get the better of it, as it was of her.”

On the Isle of Skye in Scotland, the Ramsay family is predicting and contemplating upon a visit to a lighthouse. And from the postponement emerges this incredible portrait of family life. James desires to visit the lighthouse, Mrs. Ramsay searches for permanence, Mr. Ramsay aims to be a successful philosopher, and Lily Briscoe, a passionate artist, is struggling over an incomplete artwork. Will James get to visit the lighthouse? Will the other characters triumph through their difficult times to achieve their aspirations?

One of the most successful works of Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse is an exceptional experiment in the stream-of-consciousness literary technique. It is regarded as one of the best English-language novels of the twentieth century.