The Waves

The Waves is a 1931 novel by English novelist Virginia Woolf. It is critically regarded as her most experimental work, consisting of ambiguous and cryptic soliloquies spoken mainly by six characters: Bernard, Susan, Rhoda, Neville, Jinny and Louis. Percival, a seventh character, appears in the soliloquies, though readers never hear him speak in his own voice. The dialogues that span the characters’ lives are broken up by nine brief third-person interludes detailing a coastal scene at varying stages in a day from sunrise to sunset. As the six characters or voices speak, Woolf explores concepts of individuality, self and community. “Each character is distinct, yet together they compose a gestalt about a silent central consciousness”, according to a reviewer. In a 2015 poll conducted by BBC, The Waves was voted the 16th greatest British novel ever written.