Night and Day

As Katharine Hilbery, the granddaughter of a famous man of letters buried in Poets` Corner, is helping her mother write the biography of their illustrious progenitor, she becomes engaged to William Rodney, a budding writer with an exaggerated opinion of his own poetical talent. Meanwhile, the suffragette Mary Datchet is in love with Ralph Denham, a lawyer and reviewer from a lowly background, who in turn feels more attracted to Katharine. As the stories and the romantic interests of these four young people evolve and intertwine, a picture emerges of a society still obsessed with class and hung up on the social mores of the Victorian era. By far the most accessible and traditional of all Virginia Woolf`s novels, Night and Day is a powerful evocation of a fast-changing world, and, though conventional in style, addresses many of the author`s recurring preoccupations, such as the role of women in society and the difficulties in reconciling love and marriage.