by Edna O’Brien
First published 2019
James Joyce stands as an arrogant young man, defying the Church and State that seek to constrain him. He pursues Nora Barnacle with lofty romance, and their passionate relationship becomes a whirlwind of intense sexuality, children, constant travel, mounting debts, and reckless spending. Through it all, Joyce remains obsessed with Dublin, the city he left behind but recreates endlessly through his writing. O'Brien follows Joyce through his transformation from rebellious youth to bitter isolation. In his later years, he feels abandoned by a world that has rejected his work. The tension between Joyce's artistic genius and his personal torment drives the narrative. O'Brien shows how adversity shaped the man who believed conflict fuels all creation, writing works meant to stir both human hearts and angels.
Genres: biography, literary-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Dublin
Period: 20th Century
208 pages · Paperback · W&N