The Hours

A daring, deeply affecting third novel by the author of "A Home at the End of the World "and "Flesh and Blood."
In "The Hours," Michael Cunningham, widely praised as one of the most gifted writers of his generation, draws inventively on the life and work of Virginia Woolf to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and despair. The narrative of Woolf's last days before her suicide early in World War II counterpoints the fictional stories of Samuel, a famous poet whose life has been shadowed by his talented and troubled mother, and his lifelong friend Clarissa, who strives to forge a balanced and rewarding life in spite of the demands of friends, lovers, and family.
Passionate, profound, and deeply moving, this is Cunningham's most remarkable achievement to date.
Michael Cunningham was raised in Los Angeles and lives in New York City. He is also the author of the novels "A Home at the End of the World" and "Flesh and Blood." His work has appeared in "The New Yorker" and "The Best American Short Stories," and he is the recipient of a Whiting Writer's Award.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award "The Hours "is the story of three women: Clarissa Vaughan, a beloved friend of ailing poet Richard Brown, who one fine New York morning goes about planning a party in his honor; Laura Brown, who in a 1950s Los Angeles suburb slowly begins to feel the constraints of a perfect family and home; and Virginia Woolf, recuperating with her husband in a London suburb, and beginning to write "Mrs. Dalloway." By the end of the novel, the stories intertwine in remarkable ways, and finally come together in an act of subtle and haunting grace. "The overall impression is that of a delicate, triumphant glance, an acknowledgement of Woolf that takes her into Cunningham's own territory, a place of late-century danger but also of treasurable hours."--Michael Wood, "The New York Times Book Review"
"An exquisitely written, kaleidoscopic work that anchors a floating postmodern world on pre-modern caissons of love, grief, and transcendent longing."--Richard Eder, " Los Angeles Times Book Review"
" Cunningham] has deftly created something original, a trio of richly interwoven tales that alternate with one another chapter by chapter, each of them entering the thoughts of a character as she moves through the small details of a day . . . Cunningham's emulation of such a revered writer as Woolf is courageous, and this is his most mature and masterful work."--Jameson Currier, "The Washington Post Book World"
"The triumph of "The Hours" is that it somehow manages to be both artful and sincere, striking nary a false note . . . And the triumph of the book is no less the triumph of its author. Just when it seemed that it was no longer permissible to pay respect to the literature of the past, Cunningham has done so with an undeniable skill and depth of feeling."--Justin Cronin, "The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Rich and beautifully nuanced scenes follow one upon the other . . . a] gargantuan accomplishment."--"Publishers Weekly" (starred, boxed review)