I was not the biggest fan of Mrs Dalloway when I read it earlier this fall, but this book surprised me a bit. It took a lot of the themes I enjoyed from Woolf and turned them around and explored them in different ways. I found it very fascinating and enjoyable to read, although I still only gave it a three star rating.

Despite being interested, I found it hard to connect to this book. I was interested without being invested, and I never felt like I cared as much as I needed to. I only ever found myself caring about Laura, the housewife from the 40s. Her story drew me in and I wish there had been more. I didn't dislike Clarissa or Virginia Woolf's chapters, but I just didn't care.

I think I needed a bit more from all the storylines. None of them felt complete or like they had enough time to accomplish their goals. It's a fairly short book anyway, about 230 pages, but split between three different narrators, that only left about 70 pages for each and a chapter at the end to wrap it all up. It didn't feel like enough.

I found it to be overwritten and a little too pretentious. I liked the themes and story, but overall wasn't a huge fan of his writing style. I think that encouraged a lot of the disconnect I was feeling.

Overall, I did enjoy it more than Mrs. Dalloway, but I still didn't love it. However I am glad I picked it up and I really did enjoy the exploration of a number of themes from the original.