7 of us met at The Pulteney Arms on Thursday July 2nd to discuss this book about the life, thoughts and development of a recently widowed woman from County Wexford in southeast Ireland in the late 60’s / early 70s.
Everyone agreed it was a quiet book that didn’t immediately
catch fire. However, for most of the group it drew us in and painted vivid and
engrossing scenes that told a much more complex story than was initially
apparent. A ‘sleeper’, one called it. Described by one of us as a ‘journey
through bereavement’ there was appreciation for the clever way that Toibin
managed to make this a very personal account of the awakening of the
previously-suppressed independent personality of an intelligent Irish woman.
There was no judgement in the narrative; that was left entirely for us to make.
It dod seem though that in every situation she found herself in, Nora was the
odd person out – which must have been exactly how she was feeling.
And make it we did, particularly with regard to her
relationship with her boys. One of us in particular found her parenting skills
shockingly bad and ended up disliking her for that and other reasons.
Conversely more than one of us really bought into the development of Nora’s
personality and story, and some felt that it was this gradual build-up of a
character that was the book’s chief attraction. It didn’t shy away from
describing strange episodes that might not have seemed entirely plausible – two
young boys left with Josie… for two months! A visit where ‘something’ may have
happened, but we never find out exactly what. For all of us to differing
degrees, there was a subtle unstated suggestion of child abuse, and one of us
said he appreciated that it didn’t come to anything concrete but stayed there
in the background throughout – much more effective.
Nora’s discovery of music as a metaphor for her widening
horizons was well drawn and provided the exclude to vivid and amusing scenes.
Particularly with the ‘I don’t care what they think’ music teacher. The drunk
drive home with the fierce woman who organised the pub quiz was also enjoyed,
and both exemplified the way in which ‘small’ events were given due prominence
in the narrative without feeling insignificant or overblown. The geographical
settings were ‘brilliantly realised’ without resorting to florid descriptions –
even for those who had not visited Ireland.
Juxtaposed with this homey parochial background was the
emergence of the Troubles in the North, and the suggestion that Maurice would
have been involved had he still been alive, as well as the temporary
disappearance of the daughter as she herself got involved in Dublin, taking her
own steps to independence along the way.
So we (most of us) enjoyed the journey, but views became a
little more fragmented as the end of the book drew near, with its dream-like
episode and strange half-lit revelations coming to Nora. It prompted the
response ‘So what?’ from one of us – is it much more than simply an enjoyable
read? What does it really tell us about life the universe and everything?
Another found the sequence unbelievable (along with most of the rest of the
book) and was unable to see what it added to the narrative.
Overall though a rewarding, slow burner of a book that
proved that you don’t have to use dayglo colours to paint a vivid picture.
Average score out of 10 was 7.34.
