ReadingPilgrimage.com is intended to help readers discover and appreciate Dorothy Richardson’s masterpiece Pilgrimage
Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage, published in 13 “chapter-volumes” (her preferred term) between 1915 and 1967, is one of the greatest and most challenging works of modernist fiction in the English language. And yet, it is also one of the least-known and little-read classics of English literature. As Elizabeth Bowen has written, “Until Dorothy Richardson has been given her proper place, there will be a great gap in our sense of the growth of the English novel.”
This site was created to support the group that read Pilgrimage together in 2022 and has been updated to support the 2026 Reading Group, but it’s also aimed to help anyone who wants to read Pilgrimage
- Introduction
- A short essay on Pilgrimage providing an overview of its structure, story, and history. If you are new to Pilgrimage, this is a good place to start.
- Getting Your Books
- Although Pilgrimage is a masterpiece of 20th century literature, it can be tough to obtain copies of the series. This page lists the various editions of Pilgrimage and provides links to sources of physical and electronic copies.
- 2026 Reading Group
- General information, schedule, and links to YouTube videos of reading group discussions
- The 13 Books
- An introduction, plot synopsis, and list of characters for each book (Richardson called them “chapter-volumes”), along with excerpts from contemporary reviews
- Dorothy Richardson
- Articles about Dorothy Richardson’s life and work
- On Pilgrimage
- Articles by writers such as Louise Bogan and Elizabeth Bowen, along with other critical assessments of Pilgrimage
- Supplemental Reading
- Guides to reading Pilgrimage, biographies, critical studies, and collections of other writings by Dorothy Richardson that can help illuminate and clarify this challenging text.
- Links
- A list of some of the useful sites for information about Pilgrimage and Dorothy Richardson.