The Waves

An innovative work of modernist fiction ahead of its time, Virginia Woolf's The Waves traces the lives of a group of friends against the backdrop of the sea. 

Set on the coast of England against the vivid background of the sea, The Waves introduces six characters—three men and three women—who are grappling with the death of a beloved friend, Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Virginia Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing their, inner lives: their aspirations, their triumphs and regrets, their awareness of unity and isolation.  

“Clear, bright, burnished, at once marvelously accurate and subtly connotative. The pure, delicate sensibility found in this language and the moods that it expresses are a true kind of poetry.”—The New York Times