To the Lighthouse is both a vivid impressionistic portrayal of the Ramsey family, whose yearly summer vacation in Scotland is marred by war, and a contemplation on marriage, motherhood, and childhood, as well as on loss, tyranny, and resentment. At the time of its release in 1927, the novel signified a complete rejection of everything that had come before due to its use of stream-of-consciousness, remembrance, and shifting perspectives, which give the work an intimate, poetic quality.