I was excited to learn about James Joyce’s wife because I never heard of her. However, they had a really bad relationship. There were also many graphic scenes that made me uncomfortable reading.

I often enjoy books about the spouses of famous authors. They're often overshadowed by the author and their life, but they had their own lives and so many issues to deal with - look at Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is a good book with a great insight into James Joyce's wife, Nora, and what she had to go through behind the scenes.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but WOW. Just, Gorgeous writing, deep characterization, exceptional plotting. Highly enjoyable.

I love reading biographical fiction about writers and their muses and wives, so this book was one I thought I'd enjoy. Unfortunately, the story failed to draw me in and the story was a bit too gritty for my taste.
Still, I appreciate the research the author put into this book and the atmosphere and voice of Nora she managed to create.
I think more dedicated fans of James Joyce or the time period would enjoy this book.
Many thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I alternated between reading and listening to this title. Both gave a good insight into the lives of Nora Barnacle and James Joyce. I did adore the narration and could hear that voice in my head when I was reading the text. The voices are beautifully captured in the audio.

So many find the works of James Joyce to be difficult to understand. It is fascinating to hear this icon simply referred to as “Jim” by Nora. It puts him in some perspective.

When the novel opens, Nora is working as a hotel maid. She meets Joyce on that fateful Bloomsday of June 16th and her life is transformed. Although he will not marry, Nora agrees to leave Ireland with her Jim as they seek a better life in Europe. It soon becomes clear that finding this life will not be easy. Readers become part of these characters’ worlds as their lives unfold.

Nora and Jim are earthy, bawdy lovers and their relationship is described in some detail. This adds to the aliveness and intensity of the characters and I feel belongs in the book. It is possible that some will wish for less of this description though.

I recommend this historical novel for its characterizations, details and keen look at the lives of these two well known Irish lovers. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce is a fictional telling of the life of Nora Barnacle and her long-time companion, famed Irish novelist James Joyce. Through rivers of alcohol, loss of a child, poverty strained family relations, until finally wealthy patronage, fame and marriage O'Connor limbs the rich inner life of Nora, who I had been quite unfamiliar with. The language rich and wonderful, with Irish expressions and language throuout the dialogue, with descriptions of poverty and hunger that filled their early life, even as they travelled to many of the biggest cities in Europe. The cast includes many luminaries from the Lost Generation including Hemingway, Ezra Pound and future playwright Samuel Beckett.

Plus the narration by Jenn McGuirk on the audio is just captivating. Each character has a voice and the language with her Gaelic lilt is even clearer and more powerful. A grand listening experience.

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.

I entered this novel meeting my narrator, Nora Barnacle as she shares the story of her life. She is a stranger to me but unbeknownst to me, she will become a friend.
Dublin, Ireland 1904. Twenty year old Nora has traveled from Galway to Dublin where she is employed as a maid at Finn’s Hotel. There she meets Jim Joyce and the mutual attraction is immediate. Although hesitant to commit to marriage, Joyce convinces her to go with him to Zurich where he has a teaching post. The free spirited Jim Joyce finds that teaching is far too restrictive and Is longing to express his thoughts through writing. Nora believes in him and showers him with her love and support. Nora, limited in education, takes in laundry and ironing to make money while Jim searches to get his writing published. Living throughout Europe in poverty, the money they have, is poorly spent on Jim’s drinking and gambling. His desire to be at the heights of the literary world often leaves Nora alone as she cares for their children, friendship and their home. Amidst the drama of their daily, their love and desire for one another never waivers. She resides in the shadows of his greatness but her strength, her will and her drive is the bond that keeps the family together. Nora is the champion of this biographical novel and Nuala O’Connor shines a well deserved light on a story that longs and deserves to be told.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Perennial for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.

I'm going to start this by saying I was not a huge fan of James Joyce the man BEFORE reading Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce. After? Hold me back, folks. Author Nuala O'Connor takes readers through a fictional account of Nora Barnacle and James Joyce, their brief courtship, and then how Nora may have become a muse of sorts for Joyce to create the character Molly Bloom in Ulysses.  Nora Barnacle is just barely twenty, and working as a chambermaid at Finn's Hotel in Dublin. She is a Galway girl at heart, but has become slightly embittered after her relationship with a Protestant man is ended fairly abruptly by her uncle threatening to kill him.  On June 16th (which literature snobs will known as Bloomsday if they are obsessed with Ulysses),  Nora meets James "Jim" Joyce, and their encounter turns into a life long relationship.  Jim is hesitant to marry, but he's not hesitant to take Nora to the European continent where they play house and are forced to move from place to place as Jim grows bored with a work assignment or starts drinking heavily. 

URGHHHHHHHHHH. There are so many times in this book that I desperately want to pick Nora up, put her in counseling, and insist she never see "Jim" again. Not only is he super gaslighty, he is almost perpetually drunk and a complete asshole. Though they end up with a kid fairly quickly, he sees no need to grant Nora any type of security of the day and refuses to marry. Nora is insanely self sacrificing, and feels that believing in Jim will help him become a famous author, even as he treats her and their children like utter garbage.  While Nora is a fictional account of their relationship, it rings pretty historically true based on what information is out there about Joyce and how he treated the people in his life, including his contemporaries. Afterall, the man straight up told William Butler Yates that he was too old for Joyce to learn from. 

Please, please, please do not use this book as a how to. As someone who has studied some of the literary greats, please remember that a lot of these well-praised authors were absolutely garbage human beings.  

Nuala O'Connor does a fabulous job of constructing a fictional narrative. She is an incredible writer, but I still want to throw this book against the wall.