'The Voyage Out' was Virginia Woolf's first novel. Rachel Vinrace embarks for South America on her father's ship and is launched on a course of self-discovery in a kind of modern mythical voyage. The mismatched jumble of passengers provide Woolf with an opportunity to satirise Edwardian life. The novel introduces Clarissa Dalloway, the central character of Woolf's later novel, Mrs Dalloway. Two of the other characters were modelled after important figures in Woolf's life.

Virginia Woolf, geboren am 25. Januar 1882 in London und gestorben am 28. März 1941 bei Rodmell nahe Lewes, Sussex war eine britische Schriftstellerin und Verlegerin. Mit ihrem avantgardistischen Werk zählt sie zu den bedeutendsten Autorinnen der klassischen Moderne.