To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Written in Virginia Woolf's stream-of-consciousness style, To the Lighthouse is divided into three sections. The first and longest takes place over the course of two days at the Ramsay family's summer home off the coast of Scotland. The second, shortest section occurs over the course of many years, signifying the passage of time (in fact, it's called "Time Passes"), and the last section comprises one afternoon in which the family, years later, returns to its long-neglected vacation spot. I love this book, though it makes me a little sad just thinking about it--the quiet way that Woolf expresses how things change over time, how you can wistfully look back at a summer long ago and reflect on how much has happened since then, at how different your life has come to be. Heartbreaking, really.