In "Backwater", the second volume of Dorothy Richardson's Pilgrimage series, readers are once again immersed in the inner thoughts and reflections of the protagonist, Miriam Henderson. Set against the backdrop of early 20th century London, the novel explores the complexities of everyday life and the challenges faced by a young woman navigating societal expectations and personal desires.

Richardson's stream-of-consciousness style of writing gives readers an intimate glimpse into Miriam's mind, allowing us to experience her joys, frustrations, and uncertainties in a deeply personal way. The author's vivid descriptions and keen observations bring the bustling city to life, painting a rich and detailed portrait of urban existence in the early modernist period.

While the novel may not appeal to all readers due to its dense prose and introspective nature, those who appreciate literary works that delve into the intricacies of human psychology and social dynamics will find much to admire in "Backwater". Richardson's exploration of female subjectivity and the constraints placed upon women in early 20th century society adds depth and resonance to the narrative, making Miriam a compelling and relatable protagonist.

Overall, "Backwater" is a thought-provoking and immersive read that showcases Richardson's skill as a writer and her ability to capture the complexities of everyday life with nuance and insight. For fans of modernist literature and character-driven storytelling, this novel is a compelling continuation of Miriam Henderson's journey of self-discovery and personal growth.

Book Description:
"Backwater" is the second volume of "Pilgrimage," a series of thirteen autobiographical novels by Dorothy Richardson considered to have pioneered the "stream of consciousness" technique of writing. In a review of the first volume in the series, "Pointed Roofs" (The Egoist April 1918), May Sinclair first applied the term "stream of consciousness" in her discussion of Richardson's stylistic innovations. Richardson, however, preferred the term "interior monologue." Miriam Henderson, the central character in Pilgrimage, is based on the author's own life between 1891 and 1915. Richardson is also important as a feminist writer because of the way her work assumes the validity and importance of female experiences as a subject for literature. Her wariness of the conventions of language, her bending of the normal rules of punctuation, sentence length, and so on, are used to create a feminine prose, which Richardson saw as necessary for the expression of female experience. Virginia Woolf in 1923 noted that Richardson "has invented, or, if she has not invented, developed and applied to her own uses, a sentence which we might call the psychological sentence of the feminine gender." In "Backwater," the quietly iconoclastic Miriam Richardson undertakes teaching responsibilities at a girls' school in North London; finding it to be impossible to conform to socially-acceptable interpretations of life, she anguishes over such issues as marriage, religion, the nature of happiness, and family relationships, while she begins to widen her horizons in the world. ( Wikipedia, edited by Expatriate)