The classic novel “To the Lighthouse” by British novelist Virginia Woolf will now include a disclaimer regarding triggering or offensive language. The new trigger warning was added due to the “attitudes” portrayed in the book.
“This book was published in 1927 and reflects the attitudes of its time,” the disclaimer reads.
The publisher, Vintage Books, is based in New York and is owned by Penguin Random House.
The new warning label denies any “endorsement of cultural representations or language” used in the novel. Critics of the disclaimer call it vague since readers are having trouble pinpointing where the controversy lies.
The novel is described as a semi-autobiography about a family visiting their summer home in Scotland.
A newly printed copy of the novel in British bookstores will remain the same as the 1920s version. Meanwhile, bookstores across the U.S. will have the updated copies.
Virginia Woolf is just the latest author to have her work altered or updated for more sensitive audiences. Others include R.L. Stine, Roald Dahl, Agatha Christie, and Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell.
