Nora: A Biography of Nora Joyce

by Brenda Maddox

Nora was twenty years old and penniless when she eloped from Ireland with Joyce, a man of brilliant promise but few accomplishments whom she'd known but three months. She remained with him until his death thirty-seven years later, bearing him two children, governing a succession of unruly households in Trieste, Paris, and Zurich, holding him and the family together through the force of her own formidable pluck. Most importantly for Joyce's work, Nora served as his "portable Ireland," his living link to the homeland he used as the basis for his masterpieces.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Ireland, Biography Memoir, History, Irish Literature, Womens

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Born in Brockton, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1932, Brenda Lee Power Murphy graduated from Harvard University (class of 1953) with a degree in English literature and also studied at the London School of Economics. She was a book reviewer for The Observer, The Times, New Statesman, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and regularly contributed to BBC Radio 4 as a critic and commentator. Her biographies of Elizabeth Taylor, D.H. Lawrence, Nora Joyce, W.B. Yeats, and Rosalind Franklin have been widely acclaimed. She received the Los Angeles Times Biography Award, the Silver PEN Award, the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, and the Whitbread Biography Prize.

Maddox was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1999.

Maddox lived in London and spent time at her cottage near Brecon, Wales, where she and her husband, Sir John Maddox (d. 2009), were actively involved within the local community. She was vice-president of the Hay-on-Wye Festival of Literature, a member of the Editorial Board of British Journalism Review, and a past chairman of the Broadcasting Press Guild. Maddox had two children and two stepchildren.

Her biography of the scientist James Watson was published in 2016.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ce Ce · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this book. I read to page 110. I stopped because I was plagued with what I now know...and could never UN-know...and needed to contemplate if I wanted to know any more.

What is the responsibility of a biographer? Where do you draw the line when revealing the personal?

Reading "Nora"...I do not know how one could not help but feel a moral qualm with being a voyeur of things no reasonable human being would want others to contemplate. Especially since this is Nora's bio...and she did not mine her own life for public consumption.

I decided not to continue with "Nora"...out of respect for her.

[ReemK10 (Paper Pills) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not without controversy. And clearly not for those whom Joyce is a serious and scholarly read.


What Celeste Albaret is to reading Proust, Nora is to reading Joyce, the only difference being that Celeste was a loyal and loving housekeeper who wanted to set the record straight about her beloved Marcel, and Maddox was a journalist out to write a story about a woman whom she believed was the real Molly Bloom. For those of us who were always intrigued by Nora, this is an entertaining read.  Maddox does uncover a lot of material about the Joyces. If you've read Ellmann's biography of Joyce, you'll find this biography to be a much lighter read.


The choice to read such a biography, really any biography, is always your own. It always feels like intruding on someone else's life, and yes, there are parts when you ask yourself, "Why am I reading this?"


"There are no innocent bystanders ... what are they doing there in the first place?"William S. Burroughs


Guilty🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️


 Of Nora- 

"There were tantalizing glimpses in Richard Ellmann’s great biography of Joyce, but no more,” she wrote. “Ellmann tried to ward me off. She was an uninteresting woman, he said, about whom there was little to say; besides, all her friends were dead, so the chances of getting new information were minimal." NYT


"Perhaps most notoriously, in 1988 Stephen Joyce announced he had destroyed “all his letters from his Aunt Lucia, the writer’s daughter,” in response to a biography of James Joyce’s wife, Nora. Brenda Maddox, Nora’s biographer, had devoted an epilogue to Lucia, which Stephen Joyce succeeded in having removed. But his larger issue seems to have had more to do with Maddox’s decision to quote from erotic letters his grandparents had written to each other and which had been published by biographer Richard Ellmann in the ’70s. In her 1988 article for the New York Times, Caryn James wrote that “the letters are clearly the lightning rod for Mr. Joyce’s feeling that critics have gone far beyond fairness”: The Outline

"Yet Maddox claims that her book is not written strictly for admirers of James Joyce.
``Every writer writes for two audiences. You write for the people who know nothing about it. I hope the book is accessible to people who have never read a page of James Joyce.... I think her life is interesting in its own right. You also have to write for the people who know much more about it than you ever will. I hope for the Joyce scholars, what I found that is new will be interesting.''The Christian Science Monitor

Take. Bussoftlhee, memenormee!
Til thousendsthee.
- Finnegans Wake 


Finn, again! Take.
Finnegans Wake


Bussoftlhee
But softly: but be quiet"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"
 Romeo and Juliet


Mememormee!
me remember me!
my memory!
me, me, more me!


Till thousendsthee
Till thousand ends 'the' (FInnegans Wake ends with the word 'the').
A thousand ends (deaths).


Rip! Nora
requiescat in pace (Latin): rest in peace

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding read providing one is interested in James Joyce and the Irish in general. In this book Molly Bloom comes alive as Nora, the wife of James Joyce. A fascinating woman who lived beside Joyce and supported him in her own way. A side of James Joyce I had never read about came to light as well. It is a great read.

[Terry Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the missing link from all those books about Joyce the genius. Here we meet the woman that allowed Joyce the environment where his genius could flourish. This is the book I would give to people who have never read Joyce and may think he is some foul nutter. Here they will find the portrait of an incredibly strong woman and the man who loved and was inspired by her.

[Lucy Cummin · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I close the final page of any biography I usually feel a little melancholy, sometimes awe and gladness to have gotten to know a remarkable person. Sometimes too I wish I hadn't learned so much. In the case of the Joyces it was mostly the latter two, in an even mix of awe and dismay. I was glad to know Nora better, less glad to know Joyce (the person, not the writer). The two of them as a couple? Maddox builds a strong case that no one except Nora really had a clue about the man -- which he well knew and which, in some ways formed the bedrock basis of their marriage, that is, she knew he was a remarkable genius with language as well as who he was as a man. As well, he knew who Nora was and to him, she wasn't what other people saw (Nora was from Galway! Western Ireland was the back of beyond in a country that was already the back of beyond therefore she had to be rough and stupid.) Nor was Nora Molly Bloom. For one, she was utterly faithful to Joyce. She was intelligent albeit not well educated, a big difference. Joyce loved her voice, and loved the way she put words together, listened intently to her cadences but the most remarkable thing was that she was Herself. Grounded. Solid. Steady. After ten years on the continent, she spoke fluent Italian and German and later in life learned passable French, knew countless operas (which she adored) by heart. She dressed elegantly, could cook perfectly well --- a good deal of the time they lived in horrible rooms in mediocre hotels with no kitchen and so had to eat out -- others assumed they ate out because she couldn't cook. Not so. Joyce found her presence necessary to him to keep him from flying apart and Nora obliged because he never ceased to surprise her with his own wit and observations and she loved his singing voice and, as I said, agreed with him that he was something special. They loved each other. Ah well -- they were also spendthrifts and dreadful parents, really abominable, but clearly loved their children. Once the two reached young adulthood the Joyces couldn't accept it and made bad decision after bad decision to keep them both too close, tough reading. Through it all Joyce wrote and wrote. He died not long after finishing Finnegan's Wake as if once he had emptied himself, he had no further reason to live. Nora went on for another ten years or so, in part to care for her grandchild. I have to say that my vision of the Joyces is one of unrelieved chaos, disturbing and sad overall, but out of which, somehow, came the most remarkable literary work of the 20th century. ****

[Dionysius the Areopagite · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my year of studying Joyce this book wasn't mentioned once. I wouldn't go straight into this work after Ellmann, but it's also worth noting that Ellmann's biography of Joyce is considered by many the greatest literary biography of all time. While I'm always looking to break away from, or shed new light on the normal, I'm yet to read a literary biography which comes to close in impacting my personal and artistic life through such structure and erudition as the Ellmann book.
So this book is a couple of notches down. I suggest reading some of Joyce's more outrageous letters as an interlude if you're going to pick this one up after the Joyce biography, especially the ones about 'My little fuckbird' and the farts. Poor Lucia. Finally cracking after being rejected by Beckett, then another Joyce acolyte (Though I do believe he'd published his little book on Proust by then, which is very interesting), going so far as to model his eating and drinking habits after Joyce. In Beckett's biography it is also put another way: That until 23, he was 'Emotionally retarded.' It is a good, under-rated area of study; to allow himself to love Lucia at the risk of his future literary ambitions, forever in Joyce's shadow, or to reject her, leading to mania - either way it was strange how much time they spent together for all to amount to nothing. Less strange than common though, sadly. While Beckett went on carve out his legacy, it was interesting to find this bit out. I am not one to talk, though, as Nora's grandmother was a member of my grandmother's lineage, the Healys, in Ireland, derivative of Healey, the latter of which means, 'Ingenious.'

One question I'll always consider, using herein Nora Joyce as a stand-in vehicle, is whether the sacrifice is worth it. In such a, for the most part, astonishingly difficult life, to in the end stand like a rock, and allow at last the books their due recognition - Stranger still is that Nora never read one of Joyce's books. I'm sure many-a feminist will look at a lot of what she let go on with disgust, but I am not a feminist, so I don't really know. I see it as a portrait in time. I'm positive that if I treated my wife the way Joyce treated Nora in instances I would be abandoned at best, castrated at worst, and either way I'd be in the wrong. Regardless, she stuck it out, success came, there were many moments of true love, success and sanity in Georgio, and in the words of Lucia at Joyce's death bed while Nora wept, 'Why are you crying? He's looking over us all the time forever anyway.'

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I see that some people felt this biography overstepped the mark when revealing Nora's life with Joyce. I can see why. There's many intimate details about their sex life, their daughter, Lucia, the fact that Joyce was a drunk and so was their son, the way they went through life bludging off brother Stani and many others who had more money than them. It really does not paint Joyce in a very good light.

You could throw Nora into the above mix since she also lived off the kindness of others and happily spent their money on clothes and shoes, but somehow I felt as if she was less culpable. Possibly because she was reliant on the husband to provide, as most women were, and had children she nurtured while Joyce wrote. She was the heart and the muscle in the home, he was the brain and the provider, but he didn't do very well at the latter. It sounded as if Nora found Joyce massively frustrating, often completely impossible, but she loved him and relied on him. He'd taken her out of Ireland and they had become, especially when the children were little, a kind of island where they had to fall back on one another.

I personally think that to reveal someone's sexual predilections and financial failings is the responsibility of a biographer. If the information is there then let it be revealed so that we can see why Joyce wrote as he did, spoke and lived as he did. I guess Nora is an innocent passenger in the long train ride called "beingwithJoyce", but since their own friends labelled Nora as dirty, stupid, plain, dull and a burden, could she have come off any worse? I don't think she has. In fact I think Maddox has given her back her dignity, her flair and sophistication, her intelligence and wit, her charm and her strong backbone.

Stephen Joyce said of Nora, "Nonna was so strong, she was a rock. I would venture to say that he could have done none of it, written not one of the books without her." I think Maddox makes it clear that without Nora in Joyce's life he would have used his literary prowess to sign cheques for more booze and died of alcoholism at a much younger age than 59. Without his muse Joyce may have written a good book, but it'd not have been the great modern novel. Viva Nora!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maddox's bio is generally well written and well organized with some flaws, but if you read it after reading Ellmann's biography of James you'll feel like Maddox's bio would be best reduced to a longish essay worked in as a single chapter in Ellmann's bio. Where the two biographies cover the same ground Maddox's bio seems shallow and lacking in detail: Maddox's bio is most useful for providing insight into Norah's early days (and yes, her name was spelled with an "h" back then...).

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A remarkable biography of a truly remarkable life. The biographer has taken great pains to reconstruct a historically accurate account of Nora from years of correspondence and first hand accounts. This is no easy task as they seemed to have moved every year and were displaced by wars. She also does a good job reconciling this information with the mythology surrounding Joyce and the very memorable female characters in Joyce's fiction who persist as reflections of Nora.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable although now somewhat dated biography of the wife of James Joyce. Of particular interest to me were the details of the tortuously ambivalent relationship between the Joyces and their Irish homeland, to which they never returned except for brief and unsatisfying visits early in their relationship. Much is made in the annals of the humanities about how the artist suffers for her/his art, but this is a tale of how much Nora Barnacle put up with and suffered for the sake of her husband's genius, a genius she accepted and defended with dignity and courage. The depth and level of their devotion to each other is as moving as their constant struggles with financial uncertainty and Joyce's physical afflictions (eye problems, alcoholism) are depressing. Saddest of all is the fate of their daughter Lucia, who went mad at a fairly early age and lived the bulk of her long life in institutions. To readers of Joyce, particularly of Finnegans Wake, the specter of madness looms large just behind every page, and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that is was only owing to the devotion of Nora that the author did not suffer the same fate as his daughter.

[Dona Krueger]

I've heard so much about James Joyce's works, but have never read them. they sounded far too difficult to even try. This biography of his wife, Nora, filled in a great deal of just why I would never understand any of his works. Even Nora, his wife, found it impossible to read most of them. What an intense love and dependency they shared and what tragic lives their children lived - a great deal to do with their parents inadequate parenting. Nora was the strength that allowed Joyce to survive and write. She gave up much of who she was to protect and provide James Joyce a strong base to create his art. I still will not read his books, but have a deep appreciation for what he and Nora accomplished.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional biography and read. This woman,Nora Barnacle, a chambermaid from Dublin, had a huge influence on James Joyce the literary giant who was her husband. To understand Nora is to get a glimpse into his psyche. Her biographer, Brenda Maddox, is a first rate writer and reserarcher. Unfortunately, the book is out of print, but you may still be able to find it at the library, or as a used book on Amazon or Alibris.

[Mark Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of facts and dates, but also Maddox allowed the personalities to come through. Found this an engaging portrait of Nora and through her, a more intimate portrait of Joyce himself. Which I am sure was at least a little bit the point.

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brenda Maddox' Nora: The Real Life of Molly Bloom, a biography of Nora Barnacle, James Joyce's wife, is one of the best biographies I have ever read. For once, I have to agree with the blurb on the cover, which says, "A brilliant biography that radically alters our understanding... The first book to read about James Joyce himself."

To me, the most important message of the book is how much James Joyce owes to his wife, and after reading the biography, one will most likely question whether all the greatness of Joyce's work would be possible without Nora.

Ms. Maddox writes, "Nora is important because she belonged to Joyce and because she never did. She was the stronger of the two, an independent spirit who had far more influence on him than he upon her." She then quotes Arthur Power: "[...] I do not believe James Joyce could have coped with the difficulties of daily life had it not been for the great devotion and courage of his wife Nora. Theirs was a constant companionship based on love and congenial understanding. [...] no important move would be made one without the other. Unless one had seen them together one would not realize how much James Joyce depended on his wife Nora."

I love the quote from Elizabeth Curran, the daughter of Joyce's Dublin friend: "She could laugh him out of his depression by her plain, down-to-earth humor. [...] He never shut her up, not for a minute. [...] people could see their closeness. He would start a conversation with Nora, intentionally shutting all the others out. They had a kind of running banter between them on a very intimate level. She was a relief and an outlet for him. It made a wonderful impression -- this utter understanding between two people."

The fragments of the biography that discuss Nora's influence on Ulysses and Finnegans Wake are fascinating even for this reviewer, who is completely inexpert in literary analysis. The biography is extremely well researched and thoroughly annotated (91 pages of Appendix). It is not an easy recreational read because of the serious themes, high level and depth of literary analysis, and the stunning amount of detail in chronicling Nora and Joyce's life. I am promising myself to reread Ms. Maddox' work when I have more time in summer.

[belva hullp · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3 1/2*)

Just a few thoughts:

I found this to be a fascinating peek into the personal life of the writer James Joyce and his wife Nora, who was also his muse. A lot of passion is to be found and a lot of quirkiness. A side of Joyce I had never thought to read about. I liked the book and found it quite interesting.

Some Joyce quotes:

"A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery."

"Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age."

"Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home."

[Elisa]

My book club read this book. It is long and detailed and not for the beach or a crowded plane, but it is well worth the time, especially if you like James Joyce and the turn century and bohemian time period. There is some Irish history also.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned from this book that Nora did not have a very interesting life. But, the big thing that I learned was that - contrary to popular belief and regardless of the weak proof the book tried to convey - Nora had virtually no input/influence on Joyce at all. Case closed.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great bio of Nora BarnacleJoyce. She was an ex-pat in Europe with lover later husband James Joyce. She was the inspiration for some of his stories and characters. She was also his “ Ireland “ on the Continent.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me curious to see if I picked up any of Joyce's works again, would they be any easier for me to read...very interesting look at his wife and family life...

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent bio of James Joyce's wife and best friend---and a must-read for any fan of Joyce--if for no other reason than to learn of their utterly bizarre sex life. :)

[Rakisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm pass my James Joyce phase. I will come back to this book though.

[Gemma entre lecturas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nora Joyce, 1988.

 

¡Fascinante la complejidad y riqueza de la relación de Nora y James!

 

Es una lectura apasionante, si os gustan las biografías, la documentación es impresionante, las reflexiones que deja, dudas que yo voy a recoger, las veo defendidas y contrastadas, pero empecemos por aclarara quién es Nora Joyce, la mujer de James Joyce, y si eres como yo, de mente lenta, el autor de obras tan conocidas como Ulises, Dublineses, Los muertos… Ahora sí, pues empecemos.

                Empieza situando al lector en el contexto histórico, importantísimo para comprender mejor las motivaciones de Nora y James, la Irlanda de principios del siglo XX era un lugar muy diferente y las oportunidades para las mujeres eran limitadas. Los jóvenes se marchaban no solo por trabajo, también porque seguían gobernados por los curas, el fisgoneo y la murmuración. El 8 de octubre de 1904 nadie despedía con lágrimas a Nora Barnacle en el puerto, sí a Jim Joyce, ella tenía 20 años y era menor de edad. Era una mujer apasionada, aunque Jim o James, no se casaría con ella a corto plazo, y nunca le había dicho que la amaba, ella lo haría por ambos.

                ¿Por qué se hizo famosa Nora? Sí, por ser la esposa de, pero también por un mito, el mito de la camarera que huyó con el artista, una muchacha ignorante y analfabeta, ¿era realmente así?

Nora era una mujer a la que no se la embaucaba, no había quien la parase los pies, tenía talla, porte, seguridad y unas cejas suficientemente gruesas como para hacerse pasar por un muchacho fornido. ¿Hubo amor a primera vista? En tono de humor la autora de la biografía dice que lo duda, pues James era miope, no veía mucho, y un médico había recomendado que no se pusiera gafas para reforzar la vista, y aunque este primer encuentro, fue contado por la pareja de diferentes formas cada vez, lo que sí queda claro es que entre todo aquel borrón que veía James, encontró la mujer que haría de él el artista que hoy valoramos. Tiempo, llegaré a eso más tarde. Fragmentos de la vida de Nora salpican las novelas de James, ¿cómo es la protagonista del cuento Los muertos? Lily es una doncella un tanto deslenguada.

Nora no era tan analfabeta como nos han hecho creer o desean que creamos, hay en una novela del autor notas de ella, ¿fue su única colaboración o hubo más? Escribía cartas a su hermana en las que decía: «Es un mequetrefe, Kathleen. Tengo que estar vigilándolo constantemente», James era alcohólico, Nora se pasaba noches buscándolo por las calles. Las cartas entre la pareja también nos dan una visión de como era la pareja y el juego erótico que se traían, con una analfabeta ese nivel de picardía en el uso de las palabras y la metáfora, hubiera sido IMPOSIBLE.

La fascinación de James por los episodios de la vida de su mujer son más que palpables, le interesaba todo lo referente a Galway, tenía en ella una gran musa o inspiración, porque muchas de sus frases, las que ella gritaba, están en la novela Ulises. ¿Cuánto de Nora hay en Ulises?

Se rumorea que pensó en abandonarla, ¿sería posible? ¿Se resentiría su obra? ¿Se resentiría él? ¿Qué otra mujer se adaptaría a vivir como a él le gustaba? Joyce siempre encontraba razones para mudarse, Nora se encogía de hombros y afrontaba la tarea.


«¿Por qué no escribes libros sensatos? 

¿Qué hubiese sido de James y su adicción sin ella? Su propio nieto dijo que si su abuelo llegó a ser el escritor que era fue gracias a su abuela. Detrás de todo gran hombre hay una gran mujer. Pero ¿por qué ese descredito? ¿Por qué se negó a leer Ulises? Lo primero, creo que ese descredito nació primero de James, cartas que escribe a sus amigos, conversaciones de biografías, demuestras que él fue el primero en sembrar tales comentarios, ¿por qué minimizó su contribución? ¿Por qué ese empeño en que todos la recordaran como una mujer analfabeta? Yo no permito que nadie hablé mal de la persona de la que estoy enamorada, ¿qué se esconde detrás de este hecho? Tengo una idea, pero me la guardo. ¿Por qué no se leyó su obra maestra? Nora debía tener poderosas razones, James era lo primero que decía, Nora no ha leído mi novela, ¿por qué? Os dejo una pregunta, ¿quién es Molly? 

 

¡Feliz lectura!   

[Maria Azpiroz · Rating 5 out of 5]

MagnIfica biografía de una mujer fascinante, esposa de un hombre extraordinario. Este libro tiene muchísimas virtudes. Brenda Maddox fue una biógrafa fuera de serie (leí falleció en 2019) que no tiene nada que envidiarle a la notable biografía de Joyce escrita por Ellmann. Hay una notable labor de investigación junto con un gran talento para atrapar al lector. El libro tiene 700 páginas y no le sobra ninguna. Te transporta al Dublín de fines del 1800 así como a cada ciudad en la que Nora y Joyce vivieron .. y no son pocas: Trieste, Roma, París, Zurich, Saint Gérard le Puy.... y en cada ciudad se mudaron varias veces. Aunque el libro se centra en Nora, no deja afuera ningún evento importante de James Joyce ni tampoco de sus hijos; Giorgio y Lucía. La incorporación de la correspondencia en algunos casos con transcripciones de cartas en su casi totalidad, es una forma excelente de introducirnos en los pensamientos y en la intimidad de la pareja. Las cartas obscenas, casi pornográficas que forman parte de la correspondencia que editó Ellmann están magníficamente incorporadas a este libro. Los capítulos finales, luego de la muerte de Nora en los que relata la guerra de las universidades por obtener todo material de Joyce y la suerte (o mala suerte) de los descendientes, hacen que este libro sea interesantísimo y me ha despertado cierta cierta obsesión en querer seguir investigando qué se ha descubierto más tarde sobre la vida del clan Joyce. Voy a intentar conseguir "mi nombre es Lucía" de Buzali sobre la vida de Lucía Joyce, la hija esquizofrénica confinada en un manicomio en el St Andrews Hospital de Inglaterra. Nora no era perfecta, de hecho, abandona a su hija más allá de la excusa de su agresividad y de la guerra. Además, tiene un tinte frívolo que parece contrastar con la extrema intelectualidad de su marido. Pero Nora es una persona real y la pluma de Maddox la humaniza sin desmerecerla ni idolatrarla. Me gustan muchísimo las biografías y creo que esta es una de las mejores que he leído.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of Mrs. James Joyce becomes, naturally a biography of James and the family, too. We learn she wasn't "Mrs." for many years, during which time she born James children and was, apparently, at least in James' mind, a woman of easy virtue. Through this, Nora emerges as James' soulmate with which he had a lively sexual and convivial life together with Nora nee Barnacle the barnacle goose becoming the inspiration for Molly Bloom. Lots of family and other sources for the Joyce universe are explored in detail. Also explored is a much drama and grief, such as navigating life on the continent during two World Wars and the eventual permanent commitment of the insane daughter and lettering illuminator Lucia Joyce, author of A Chaucer A.B.C.

No, Lucia Joyce was not diagnosed with bipolar disorder (which is what her behavior seemed like to me), she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. While some doctors at the time considered other diagnoses, such as "cyclothymia" (a term similar to manic-depressive illness), her official diagnosis was schizophrenia, which led to her being institutionalized for much of her adult life.

[Edward Champion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book! A useful contribution to Joyce scholarship, not merely a lurid or gossipy biography (although the infamous kinky letters are brought up and analyzed in depth). The problem I have with Ellmann's bio is that Nora is somewhat dismissed. The problem I have with the Bowker bio is that he pretends as if Ellmann's bio did not happen and parrots the same points. Maddox's strategy is to acknowledge Ellmann and hunt down quite a number of new details about Nora Barnacle, not only making a case for her as a distinct person who was dismissed as a mere "chambermaid" by sexist literary types, but showing just what an effect Nora had on Joyce's work -- most notably, the "Penelope" closing of ULYSSES and Anna Livia Plurabelle in FINNEGANS WAKE. Without Nora's strong will and independent nature, it's doubtful that Joyce -- himself not exactly enlightened when it came to women -- would have seen fit to offer that pre-feminist masterpiece closer in a literary masterpiece. Maddox is refreshingly honest about how the doting of Jim and Nora had a deleterious impact on Giorgio and poor Lucia. And Nora really comes alive in this book in a way that most other volumes have failed at. An essential volume for Joyce nerds and those, like me, who are obsessively fascinated by this literary time period.

[Raúl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biografiar una figura que está a la sombra de alguien como Joyce es difícil, y más cuando la autora, Brenda Maddox, está a la sombra de la biografia de Richard Elmann. Pero en el caso de las obras de Joyce, nada ni nadie es más importante que Nora Barnacle-Joyce. Y más en su última obra, Finnegans Wake. Por muchas cosas, se supone que la influencia de Nora Brnacle en la obra de Joyce va mucho más allá de la de ser inspiradora de sus grandes personajes femeninos. La voz de estos persoanjes suponemos que es la de Nora. Una biografía de Nora Barnacle no puede ser más necesaria para un ávido lector de Joyce.
En parte, Maddox fracasa en cuanto que la actividad de Joyce borra y se traga la de Joyce. Pero cuando logra dar un enfoque independiente o diferente al de su marido, triunfa y nos da muchos valores de interés que complementan el libro de Ellmann, que a veces decepciona por ese pasar de puntillas que tiene la figura de Nora en él. El tratamiento de la locura de Lucia Joyce es mucho más detallado y puntilloso en el libro de Maddox, así como el saber qué pasó con Joyce, su legado y sus parientes tras su muerte, ese punto en el que el prolijo Ellmann es tan escueto.
No me arrepiento de haber leído este libro.

[Gwen Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent examination of all matters related to Nora Barnacle: the families, Joyce and his writings, their continental life, their sorrows, their friends. Brenda Maddox has delivered a grand, sweeping and sympathetic account of Nora and husband James. Mind - I did not care for James Joyce through much of it. Maddox never really questions his genious but she does attribute much of his uniqueness to what he obtained - or took or learned - from his wife. One funny bit: "In 1904, when James Joyce's father heard the surname of the girl with whom his son had run away, he exclaimed, as unable as his son ever to resist a pun, "Barnacle? She'll never leave him." (p 9)

I suggest that anyone who is looking to understand Joyce and his writing read this biography. Other reviewers have mentioned Richard Ellmann as having written the definitive work on Joyce. Perhaps so - but for now Maddox has satisfied my interest. Next stop - her biography of W B Yeats.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dry, disjointed, derivative, soulless, speculative work of nonfiction. Apart from the very beginning and end, could easily be mistaken for a biography on James Joyce and a quasi-feminist reading of his works rather than the vindicating biography of his wife that it claims to be.

The chapter dedicated to Joyce’s scat fetish is the best horror short story I’ve read in a long time. 0 out of 10 do not recommend. :(

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nora: A Biography of Nora Joyce (Paperback)
by Brenda Maddox

Extensive footnotes & Bibliography.

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

She dispensed with all punctuation,
Joyce's Irish inspiration.