“Night and Day” book review by Dorota Ponikiewska

“Night and Day” is the longest novel by Virginia Wolf.  It is dedicated to her sister, Vanessa Bell.  Some historical sources are pointing out that the main character of this book, Katharine Hillbery, is created based on Vanessa and her family home at Hyde Park Gate.

Katharine is the daughter of upper-middle-class in London.  She is introduced to us as a 28 year old unmarried lady who is assisting her mother in writing a biography of her grandfather who was a recognized poet.  But she does not enjoy poetry or imaginary creativity and  in her future she would rather see mathematical computation or astronomy. 

"When she was rid of the pretense of paper and pen, phrase-making and biography, she turned her attention in a more legitimate direction, though, strangely enough, she would rather have confessed her wildest dreams of hurricane and prairie than the fact that, upstairs, alone in her room, she rose early in the morning or sat up late at night to…work at mathematics."

Not a very womanly prospect for a young lady at that era.  Fortunately, from the society point of view, she is engaged to William Rodney, a poet-to-be, with a good job at the Board of Education.  He is very traditional, but ridiculous and sometimes full of himself. And he seems to be very insecure. Katharine doesn't love him, and there are moments that she is being intolerable and unkind towards him.

Consequently, into this blend comes Katharine's cousin Cassandra, whose sweet talk and plain personality attract Rodney.  So they become engaged after Katharine and William acknowledge their mismatch.

And there is another man, Ralph Denham, a middle class legal clerk who is trying to make something of himself and who is taking care of his large family.  Ralph falls in love with Katharine and after their first meeting he begins to day dream about her, creates illusion of her and practically stalks her.  When he proposes to Katharine, she accepts it, but dose she wants to get married?  She is willing to live with him without the wedding bells, just because she didn't think it should be necessary for women to be wedded.

There is another female character in this book, Mary Datchet - a hard working woman who lives on her own. And she loves her close friend Ralph Denham, but almost in one moment she realizes that Ralph does not love her.  Even after he proposed, Mary knows that he did it because he thinks she would like for him to do so.

“Night and Day” is a very attractive edwardian romance, where reality and cynicism mix with great, but long, character descriptions.  I would say, that the first 16 chapter are demanding and sometimes, boring.  But the rest – is great.

In this book the reader will find numerous delightfully moments and emotions described as only Virginia Woolf could do it.

I recommend it very much