Original version

BBC Four

BBC 4

Series 2

The Secret Life of Books

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Classic books are reconsidered by returning to the writers' original manuscripts.

Classic books are considered with a fresh eye. Returning to the authors' original manuscripts and letters, expert writers and performers bring their personal insights to these great works.

BBC Four HD

Alexandra Harris

Allan Campbell

Richard Bright

Katy Homan

The Secret Life of Books: Series 1: Episode 3: Mrs Dalloway

Mrs Dalloway

Episode 3

Episode 3: Mrs Dalloway

Series 1

BBC Four - The Secret Life of Books, Series 1, Mrs Dalloway

How Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway re-imagined what a novel might be.

Uncovering the stories behind the creation of six classic British books. Alexandra Harris shows how Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway re-imagined what a novel might be.

Award-winning writer Alexandra Harris shows how Virginia Woolf's classic work Mrs Dalloway completely re-imagined what a novel might be. 

Woolf came of age as an author after Europe had been shattered by the First World War. 'Everything was going to be new,' says Harris of Woolf's literary ambitions. 'Everything was going to be different. Everything was on trial'.

The result was a new, free-form style of writing that responded to the post-war climate of confusion and uncertainty. Radically, Woolf's central characters - socialite Clarissa Dalloway and shell-shocked survivor Septimus Smith - never meet, while the novel also pioneers a flowing stream-of-consciousness style.

Using original manuscripts, diaries and notebooks to 'catch a glimpse of a great writer at work', Harris argues that the novel also allowed Woolf to creatively channel her own mental illness into the character of Septimus Smith, and in so doing helped keep herself sane.

Produced in partnership with the Open University.

The Secret Life of Books: Series 1

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Six British books are reconsidered by returning to the writers' original manuscripts.

Six classic British books are considered with a fresh eye. Returning to the authors' original manuscripts and letters, expert writers and performers bring their personal insights to these great works.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Secret Life of Books

Series 1

Episode 3: Mrs Dalloway

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC Four

About BBC Four