Best books: Kate Walbert

Kate Walbert, author of the new novel A Short History of Women, named a best books list of her favorite (unlikely) heroines for The Week magazine.

One novel on her list:

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

With Clarissa Dalloway, Woolf magically exposes the complexities and contradictions of an ordinary woman’s life through the course of one single brave day. While reading it, everything that’s possible in fiction suddenly hangs in perfect equilibrium.

Read about the other five literary heroines on Walbert's list.

Mrs. Dalloway also appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best prime ministers in fiction, and among Michael Cunningham's 5 most important books and Dani Shapiro's 10 favorite books.

--Marshal Zeringue