''A strange, tragic, inspired book ... It is absolutely unafraid'' E. M. ForsterA party of English people are aboard the Euphrosyne, bound for South America. Among them is a young girl, Rachel Vinrace, innocent and wholly ignorant of the world of politics and society, books, sex, love and marriage. She is a free spirit half-caught, momentarily and passionately, by Terence Hewet, an aspiring writer, but her greatest discovery will be her own self. Virginia Woolf''s first novel, published in 1915, is a haunting exploration of a young woman''s mind, signalling the beginning of her fascination with capturing the mysteries and complexities of the inner life.Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Jane Wheare