Adeline Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) was an English writer. She is widely hailed as being among the most influential modernist authors of the 20th century and a pioneer of stream of consciousness narration. Woolf was a central figure in the feminist criticism movement of the 1970s, her works having inspired countless women to take up the cause. She suffered numerous nervous breakdowns during her life primarily as a result of the deaths of family members, and it is now believed that she may have suffered from bipolar disorder. In 1941, Woolf drowned herself in the River Ouse at Lewes, aged 59. This book contains volume I of her collected works, her famous novels “The Years” and “The Waves”. The last of Virginia Woolf's novels published during her lifetime. "The Years" (1937) is seemingly epic in scope, spanning fifty years and the trials and tribulations of an extended family, but remains in-depth and personal focusing on a single day in each chosen year to give the reader a real connection as we watch the characters and relationships evolve and grow through their life time. Arguably her most experimental work, “The Waves” (1931) comprises soliloquies by six characters punctuated by third-person descriptions of a coastal scene. Through her characters, Woolf examines the concepts of self, individuality, and community in a poignant and thoroughly thought-provoking novel. Read & Co. Classics is proudly publishing this brand new collection of classic novels now complete with a specially-commissioned biography of the author.

The Waves' and 'The Years' are two of Virginia Woolf's finest novels, here they are collected together.

This is a compendium of the best works by one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Set on the English coast against the vivid backdrop of the sea, The waves introduces six characters who are grappling with the death of a beloved friend, Percival. The characters are almost imperceptibly revealed through the kaleidoscopic accumulation of their reflections on themselves and each other. Regarded by many as Virginia Woolf's masterpiece, The waves was partially written in order to exorcise her private ghosts as the central, yet absent, character of Percival represents her brother Thoby, who died in 1906. It is a poetic dreamscape, visual, experimental and thrilling.

One of Woolf's most experimental novels, The Waves presents six characters in monologue - from morning until night, from childhood into old age - against a background of the sea. The result is a glorious chorus of voices that exists not to remark on the passing of events but to celebrate the connection between its various individual parts.

The Waves, first published in 1931, is Virginia Woolf's most experimental novel. The 21st Century author and critic Becky Nordensten has described The Waves as a "beautiful novel with language and imagery unmatched in 20th Century English literature." In 1996, Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi released a solo piano album "Le Onde" based upon the novel.