Mr and Mrs Ramsay and their eight children have always holidayed at their summer
house in Skye, surrounded by family friends. The novel's opening section teems
with the noise, complications, bruised emotions, joys and quiet tragedies of eve
ryday family life that might go on forever. But time passes, bringing with it wa
r and death, and the summer home stands empty until one day, many years later, w
hen the family return to make the long-postponed visit to the lighthouse.
