Mrs. Dalloway is a unique novel in that it takes place in a single day — a Wednesday in mid-June 1923. The novel interweaves two seemingly unconnected storylines during this day.
At the beginning, Clarissa Dalloway, fiftyish and recently recovering from an illness, is preparing for a party she will host that evening. She begins her day running an errand to purchase the flowers for the party. Throughout the morning, Clarissa reflects on her past, including her decision to marry Richard Dalloway thirty years earlier, rather than her more fiery suitor Peter Walsh.
Meanwhile, the second storyline begins with Septimus Smith, a shellshocked war veteran, out on the street with his wife, Lucrezia. Septimus struggles with the aftereffects of the war, hearing voices and feeling that life has little meaning. A car backfiring paralyzes him, and he reflects on his life. Septimus lost his good friend and commanding officer Evans in the war and continues to carry on conversations with this lost friend.
Clarissa has returned home and begins to remember a special friendship she shared in her youth with Sally Seton, a vivacious, slightly scandalous young woman. The two shared a special bond, bordering on a crush, and Clarissa remembers a kiss they shared.
Clarissa begins mending her green silk dress for the evening when she receives an unexpected visit from Peter Walsh, her former suitor. Peter had once told Clarissa disparagingly that one day she would become "the perfect hostess," and it becomes more and more clear that his prediction was accurate. Clarissa and Peter talk to each other easily about the present, but both are thinking of their past and the decisions they made to get them to the place they are now. Clarissa's 17-year-old daughter Elizabeth enters and Peter ends his visit.
