Library / Emotional Suppression
Read this when
The Hours
Baking the birthday cake. Smiling for the party. Screaming quietly inside. The Hours knows the weight of an ordinary day. 🎂
Who it's for
Following three women through single days, Virginia Woolf in 1923, Laura Brown in 1949 and Clarissa Vaughan in the 1990s, the novel shows how much private struggle can hide behind a cake, a party or a writing morning, which can deeply validate readers who are.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Michael Cunningham's 1998 novel follows three women over a single day each. In 1923 Richmond, near London, Virginia Woolf is writing Mrs Dalloway. In 1949 Los Angeles, Laura Brown reads that novel while preparing a birthday party for her husband, a World War II veteran. In 1999 New York, Clarissa Vaughan arranges a party for her friend Richard, a dying poet who has won a major literary award.
Where to find it
In print (Picador/FSG) and in libraries (Libby/Hoopla); audiobook available. Not public domain. Won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; the 2002 film adaptation is widely available. Woolf's Mrs Dallo.
Before you start
Heads up: Suicide, including a drowning.
Age: Ages 16+
Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3
