'Brilliant interweaving of personal experience, imaginative musing and political clarity' Kate MosseThis volume combines two books which were among the greatest contributions to feminist literature this century.

Why should one half be free to live, while the other is doomed to watch silently from the sidelines? In this collection, the author leads us on a transformative journey through the liberating powers of the mind.

For years now the Ramsays have spent every summer in their holiday home in Scotland, and they expect these summers will go on forever; but as the First World War looms, the integrity of family and society will be fatally challenged.

When Mrs Ramsay tells her guests at her summer house on the Isle of Skye that they will be able to visit the nearby lighthouse the following day, little does she know that this trip will only be completed ten years later by her husband, and that a gulf of war, grief and loss will have opened in the meantime. As each character tries to readjust their memories and emotions with the shifts of time and reality, this long-delayed excursion will also prove to be a journey of self-discovery and fulf...