The complex novels by Virginia Woolf are seen with clarity and coherence in "The Elusive Self," a thorough and detailed literary interpretation by Louise A. Poresky. The result is a reliable map that guides the reader through the nine novels. Adding the wisdom of religion and psychology to her literary criticism, Dr. Poresky demonstrates how Woolf's characters strive to achieve personal wholeness. The quest progresses sequentially through the novels as a major character in each work struggles against certain demons, whether the superficial dictates of society or the voices that say women cannot be artists, and thus realizes the difference between ego and essence.