Nora: A Love Story of Nora And James Joyce by Nuala OConnor

 Nora Barnacle was a wife of James Joyce, his muse and the model for Molly Bloom in Ulysses. This is her story, boldly reimagined.

Ireland, 1904. Nora Barnacle comes from Galway to Dublin where she works as a maid at Finn’s Hotel. At twenty-years-old, she meets Dubliner James Joyce. When James secures a teaching post in Zurich, he asks Nora to leave with him. Despite his hesitation to marry, she follows him. As it turns out, the teaching is not for him. It’s too constricted. He is a free spirit, who craves to express his thoughts in writing. He struggles to find a publisher and it leads him to reach for spirits more and more. His money spent on drinking doesn’t help the constantly struggling family.

Nora, with education ending at the age of twelve, now takes in laundry and ironing to make some money. Despite living in poverty throughout Europe, her support and believe for James’ gift is unwavering. And admittedly, she knows that they’re not good at managing money.

The characters are interestingly developed and with engrossing prose, the pages turn quickly. What Nora thinks and says is entertaining at times and the word choice is attention-grabbing: “I don’t have to love it when someone is dripping herself all over you like honey.” “I glare at her, not daring to open my beak for fear of what squawky madness might fly out.”

Nora is a bit of a rogue. She could curb her tongue a bit with their sexual endeavors and when apart expressing their desires in letters. But on the other hand, I understand the author giving it a very real feel, creating real characters. Two very different characters, one intellectual and one coming from a simple background and in their own way they connect.

Phenomenal job on creating not only real characters, but also real situations, including the financial hardship they go through. It puts some strains on their marriage, but at the end of the day it’s their love and support for each other that conquer it all.

Nora lacks education, but she is the glue of the family. The one who is needed by James and protective of children, even with the strained relationship with her daughter she chooses peace over fight. Her natural instinct as a mother and a strong believe in her husband’s talent make her keep the family together despite many hardships. Thus, making her a strong woman. A woman who lived in her husband’s shadow and whose story deserves to be told.

Release date: 5 January 2021

Source: Harper Perennial