Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce by Nuala O'Connor

"To Jim I am Ireland."~ from Nora by Nuala O'Connor

In her novel Nora, Nuala O'Connor channels Nora Barnacle as she tells the story of her life with James Joyce. Warned against him as a wild and savage madman, Nora affirms that part of him, for she also has a wildness inside.

I was drawn in by Nora's distinct voice and her unorthodox, independent character.

The novel covers Nora's entire life, from the workhouse to meeting Joyce, agreeing to go abroad with him without marriage, their rise from poverty to Jim's financial success, and their marital and family troubles. 

Warning: The novel begins with a sexual encounter and there will be more later in the novel.

The novel begins on Juneteenth 1904 when a young Jim Joyce walked out with twenty-year-old Nora Barnacle. She understands what he wants and they have their first sexual encounter. Jim had found someone adventurous and sensual; no one of 'his class' could be so open and willing. They stayed together until Jim's death. 

Jim worked uninspiring jobs to support them as he wrote his stories and worked on his novel. He drank too much and spent too much. 

Nora was left alone too much and had to scramble to put food on the table and raise their children. Like the wives of so many writers, Nora's fidelity and support required her to take on the greater part of providing for their basic needs. She found allies and friends, including Jim's brother.

The early part of the novel is wonderful. It has a nice continuity and I felt immersed in the story. The later part of their life jumps across time, hitting on important events. The story of their daughter's mental illness could merit a novel all its own.

This is the story of an independent, strong woman who defies social convention for a relationship that evolves and endures over a lifetime. The novel will appeal to readers interested in Joyce but also to the broader readership of women's fiction and even romance.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Find a Reading Guide here.

Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce
by Nuala O'Connor
Harper Perennial and Paperbacks
Pub Date: January 5, 2021   
ISBN: 9780062991720
paperback $16.99 (USD)

from the publisher

Acclaimed Irish novelist Nuala O’Connor’s bold reimagining of the life of James Joyce’s wife, muse, and the model for Molly Bloom in Ulysses is a “lively and loving paean to the indomitable Nora Barnacle” (Edna O’Brien).

Dublin, 1904. Nora Joseph Barnacle is a twenty-year-old from Galway working as a maid at Finn’s Hotel. She enjoys the liveliness of her adopted city and on June 16—Bloomsday—her life is changed when she meets Dubliner James Joyce, a fateful encounter that turns into a lifelong love. Despite his hesitation to marry, Nora follows Joyce in pursuit of a life beyond Ireland, and they surround themselves with a buoyant group of friends that grows to include Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and Sylvia Beach.

But as their life unfolds, Nora finds herself in conflict between their intense desire for each other and the constant anxiety of living in poverty throughout Europe. She desperately wants literary success for Jim, believing in his singular gift and knowing that he thrives on being the toast of the town, and it eventually provides her with a security long lacking in her life and his work. So even when Jim writes, drinks, and gambles his way to literary acclaim, Nora provides unflinching support and inspiration, but at a cost to her own happiness and that of their children.

With gorgeous and emotionally resonant prose, Nora is a heartfelt portrayal of love, ambition, and the quiet power of an ordinary woman who was, in fact, extraordinary.

Mini-Reviews: Things We Save In A Fire and Shadow of the Lions

Non-review books, people! A romance and a mystery--

Human connection had its upsides, but it sure was a lot of work. The risk-reward raion was low, at best.~ from Things We Save In A Fire by Katherine Center

A cute, page-turner romance with darker themes of forgiveness and overcoming challenges, this was an enjoyable distraction, the kind of book I pick up between heavy, demanding books. I read my husband's ARC provided to him by the publisher.

From the publisher:
Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she’s seen her fair share of them, and she’s a total pro at other people’s tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to give up her whole life and move to Boston, Cassie suddenly has an emergency of her own.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie’s old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren’t exactly thrilled to have a “lady” on the crew—even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the infatuation-inspiring rookie, who doesn’t seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can’t think about that. Because love is girly, and it’s not her thing. And don’t forget the advice her old captain gave her: Never date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping . . . and it means risking everything—the only job she’s ever loved and the hero she’s worked like hell to become.

Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt and healing tour-de-force about the strength of vulnerability, the nourishing magic of forgiveness, and the life-changing power of defining courage, at last, for yourself.

Things You Save In A Fire
Katherine Center
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250047328
Publication Date: August 13, 2019

*****

"We weren't brothers; we were beyond that. He was perhaps the one person whose counsel and opinion I held higher than my own."~Shadow of Lions by Christopher Swann

They were waiting for the future in the form of an acceptance letter from UofV when Matthias' best friend Fritz disappeared from the grounds of the Blackburne School. Their last encounter had been contentious and Matthias never got over the guilt or the loss.

Over the nine years since then, Matthias had reached the pinnacle of success with a published book, a girlfriend, loads of cash, and a movie contract--and lost it all. When Blackburne offered him a teaching job Matthias had to accept it, even if returning meant reopening wounds he had sought to bury.

As Matthias grapples with his new job, surrounded by ghosts of the past, he determines to follow any trail to find Fritz.

"Everybody searches for something," ex-cop Briggs says to Matthias. "You telling me Fritz isn't your white whale?"

Shadow of the Lions is a great read with wonderfully drawn characters, unexpected twists, and terrific writing.

from the publisher:
How long must we pay for the crimes of our youth? That is just one question that Christopher Swann explores in this compulsively readable debut, a literary thriller set in the elite—and sometimes dark—environs of Blackburne, a prep school in Virginia. When Matthias Glass’s best friend Fritz vanishes without a trace in the middle of an argument during their senior year, Matthias tries to move on with his life, only to realize that until he discovers what happened to his missing friend, he will be stuck in the past—guilty, responsible, alone.

Almost ten years after Fritz’s disappearance, Matthias gets his chance. Offered a job teaching English at Blackburne, he gets swiftly drawn into the mystery. In the shadowy woods of his alma mater, he stumbles into a web of surveillance, dangerous lies, and buried secrets—and discovers the troubled underbelly of a school where the future had once always seemed bright.

A sharp and moving tale full of false leads and surprise turns, Shadow of the Lions is also wise and moving. Christopher Swann has given us a gripping debut about friendship, redemption, and what it means to lay the past to rest.

Shadow of Lions
by Christopher Swann
Algonquin Books
ISBN-10: 1616205008

ISBN-13: 978-1616205003

Missing Isaac: A Story of Family, Community and Faith

Missing Isaac is a vivid portrait of a community in the 1960s South, concentrating on the story of a boy growing up and learning about class, love, family, faith, and community.

In the opening scene Pete's father has died in an accident; his field hand Isaac tried to save him. Isaac befriends Pete; later he disappears.

I expected Isaac's story to be the main one, but instead it is placed on the back burner while we watch Pete grow up. Looking for Isaac, Pete meets a girl from an isolated family group who stay away from town folk. The children secretly meet, but when found out their parents cooperate to monitor the children's relationship, expecting that come puberty it will blossom into something more than friendship.

In the end, the mystery of missing Isaac is revealed. He did not fall victim to the KKK, but to something more insidious.

The novel is nostalgic and idyllic, showing the best of the community but also revealing the evil that hides behind careful facades.

I am not used to reading Christian books and the scenes in church worship seemed uneventful. The vilification of town youth culture and the division between the Hollow folk and town folk were definitely us vs them territory. Racism was barely lurking in the background, as Pete's family respect all people, regardless of color or class, as equals.

Pete and Dovey are too sweet and their long courtship is very respectful--but they marry ASAP.  I had friends who believed in courtship and whose children married too young; one was divorced within a year. The problem, of course, is that young adults want more than pristine kisses, lust into marriage, and discover they are not prepared for reality.

Still, for readers who want old-fashioned values and a story with no graphic violence, sex, profanity, this is a lovely book. It is what my mother-in-law wanted to read when she was in her 90s.

I received a free book from Bookish First in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Missing Isaac
by Valerie Fraser Luesse
Revell
Feb 16 2018
ISBN: 9780800728786

My Last Continent by Midge Raymond: Antarctic Romance and Adventure

"Midge Raymond's phenomenal novel takes us on a voyage deep into the wonders of the Antarctic and the mysteries of the human heart...packed with emotional intelligence and high stakes--a harrowing, searching novel of love and loss in one of the most remote places on earth, a land of harsh beauty where even the smallest missteps have tragic consequences." from the publisher

It was World Penguin Day when I started reading  My Last Continent by Midge Raymond. I had not realized how perfectly timed my choice was. Raymond's novel is a love story, the love between star crossed lovers and their mutual love of penguins and the Antarctic.

from the author's blog

Deb and Keller are penguin researchers whose love affair flourishes only during their brief weeks together in Antarctica. Their off-season work is on opposite sides of the county, Driven by their need to make a difference and to save the penguins, both are willing to risk everything, even their lives and each other.

Shadows of Antarctic explorers are seen everywhere, foreshadowing the novel's climax.The ghosts of lonely deaths haunt the desolate landscape. Robert Falcon Scott's hut stands undisturbed. "I may be some time," said Capt. Oates as he left the tent shared with his imperiled Scott expedition explorers. He never returned. Deb's lover in passing, Dennis, likewise wandered off to his lonely death after being left behind by his tour boat.

The solitude of the icy desert, the isolation, soothes Deb. Part of Deb wants and needs solitude. Part of her fears dying alone. The memory of an emperor penguin who died alone haunts her. Female emperors leave their eggs under the male's care while she takes off to fatten up for nursing the chick. The males huddle together during the long months of darkness until nearly starved. Human males aren't programmed like the emperors. Before meeting Keller Deb had been alone, for what male was going to wait at home while she took off every year?

"Great God! This is an awful place," Robert Scott wrote in his journal. Tragedy comes into Deb's life and for the first time she realizes the depth of despair that prompted Scott's desperate cry. Keller's ship has hit an iceberg and is sinking and Deb is compelled to search for her beloved mate in the thrilling climax of the novel.

Antarctica is more than the backdrop for the novel, it is a living character. A hundred years ago the explorers vied to be the 'first'; today tourists tick it off  as the last of continent visited. The environmental destruction and pollution that comes with tourism, overfishing, and climate change all endanger the penguins. Raymond manages to educate readers through the characters and the action.

I loved this book. It is so original in concept and the writing is beautiful.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

My Last Continent
by Midge Raymond
Scribner
Publication Date June 21, 2016
$26.00
ISBN:9781501124709

Where Monsters Lurk: Sara Gruen's At The Water's Edge

In January, 1945 while most families pray for the safety of menfolk at war, Madeline (Maddie), her husband Ellis (heir to his mother's Wanamaker fortune) and his best friend Hank scandalize Philadelphia society with their drunken antics. (Think Scott and Zelda.)

Madeline's distant father was a wealthy 'entrepreneur who dabbled in burlesque' and her manipulative mother a famed beauty and vaudeville star. Her grandfather was a Tammany Hall connected robber baron. She is not considered a proper marriage choice by her in-laws.

Ellis's father finally turns his son out of his Rittenhouse Square mansion. Unable to face hotel life, Ellis wants to regain his father's approval. His grandfather had photographed a loch monster, later labeled a hoax. Ellis decides to reclaim the family's good name by proving the monster is real. He takes Madeline and Hank on a dangerous war time journey across the Atlantic to Scotland.

Madeline has been insulated from the grim reality of the war until their the ship takes on survivors from a bombed military ship. The confrontation with burned and blasted bodies begins her moral wakening.

Drumnadrochit is a dismal place and the inn primitive. The locals have no fond memory of Ellis's grandfather. Ellis is superior and disdainful, Hank is a charming rake. Madeline tries to keep her dually-addicted husband happy. He is a mean drunk. As his behavior alienates Madeline he realizes he needs a way to control her--and her money.

While Ellis and Hank chase after the elusive monster, disappearing for days at a time (with the rationing books) only to return drunk, Madeline must fend for herself. To keep busy and 'earn her keep' she learns how to assist the staff in the most basic tasks until she becomes accepted as 'Maddie'. She comes to admire the manager, Angus, who was badly scarred in the war but is vigorous and fearless. His back story of loss becomes central to the plot and the fantasy element.

At The Water's Edge is at heart a historical romance--with elements of Gothic and fantasy. The focus is on Maddie's coming of age, learning that there are monsters hiding in plain sight, discovering her capacity for self determination, and encountering true love. The book sweeps the reader along with plenty of plot interest. (Perhaps too much plot interest.) The women are better portrayed than the men.

Warning: there are sexual encounters and brutality against women. The relationship between Ellis and Hank is not spelled out, but there are cloaked references to their being be gay lovers.

Daily life in wartime Scotland was nicely portrayed with rationing, black out shades, air raid shelters and gas masks. I was curious about the air attacks described in the book. I had not known that Scotland was bombed by the Germans. It turns out there were 500 air raids on Scotland.

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/20thand21stcenturies/worldwarii/index.asp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/scotlands_blitz/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/scotlands_blitz/
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/new-book-lifts-lid-on-why-scotland-1053065

I find it interesting how many books are coming out set during WWII, particularly in the romance/Women's fiction genre.

I received a free ebook in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

At The Water's Edge
Sara Gruen
Random House
ISBN: 9780385523233
$28.00 hard cover
Publication March 31, 2015