Mrs. Dalloway vs The Best of Me: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: First loves, Married women, Fiction
Mrs. Dalloway
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Virginia Woolf’s novel chronicles a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a politician’s wife in 1920s London, as she prepares to host a party that evening. The narrative follows Clarissa’s thoughts (and sometimes those…
The Best of Me
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In the spring of 1984, high school students Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole fell deeply, irrevocably in love. Though they were from opposite sides of the tracks, their love for one another seemed to defy the realities of…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Best of Me highest: The Best of Me 4.0 · Mrs. Dalloway 3.8.
- Mrs. Dalloway has the widest readership — 372596 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Mrs. Dalloway | The Best of Me | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (372596) | — |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (1) | 5.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | 4.0 (64) |
| Apple Books | 3.5 (99) | 4.0 (5066) |
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Reception
| Mrs. Dalloway | The Best of Me | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 372596 | 5066 |
| Editions | 476 | 24 |
| Citations | 58 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Wikipedia attention | 20546 | 20277 |
| Pages | 240 | 320 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Mrs. Dalloway or The Best of Me?
The Best of Me has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Best of Me 4.0/5, Mrs. Dalloway 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Mrs. Dalloway or The Best of Me?
Mrs. Dalloway is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Mrs. Dalloway (240 pages, ≈ 4 h 27 m); The Best of Me (320 pages, ≈ 5 h 56 m).
Which is harder to read: Mrs. Dalloway or The Best of Me?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Mrs. Dalloway: Challenging; The Best of Me: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Mrs. Dalloway: 2 film adaptations; The Best of Me: no film adaptation on record.