The book tells the story of a day in the life of Mrs Dalloway, a wealthy Londoner who is throwing a party that evening. The story is set in the early 1920s, just after the First World War. Mrs Dalloway is a complex character, and the book explores her inner thoughts and feelings as she goes about her day. The book also follows the lives of several other characters, including Clarissa’s husband Richard, her friend Sally Seton, and Septimus Warren Smith, a war veteran who is suffering from shell shock.