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| ‘Love is a paradox’: James Joyce and Nora Barnacle in 1931. |
In brief: The Seduction; Good Morning, Destroyer of Men's Souls; James and Nora – review
The Seduction
Joanna Briscoe
Bloomsbury, £16.99, pp384
Briscoe’s latest novel explores the fragile relationship both between mothers and daughters and between patients and therapists. Beth is a London-based artist, living with her successful husband and 12-year-old daughter, fast approaching the age Beth was when her mother left home. With long-standing issues of abandonment threatening to resurface, Beth seeks help from therapist Dr Tamara Bywater and soon develops feelings for her, which she becomes convinced are reciprocated. Briscoe deftly explores the therapeutic transferential relationship in a tense, skilfully plotted and emotionally perceptive story.
Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls
Nina Renata Aron
Serpent’s Tail, £12.99, pp304
In her unflinching memoir about the interplay between addiction, dependency and love, Aron writes in candidly eloquent prose about her affair with an addict, K, which destroyed her marriage and almost robbed her of her sanity. What could easily have become a story of self-pity is instead a courageous exploration of the long shadow of familial addiction and how it contributes to Aron’s co-dependent and dysfunctional adult relationships. Interspersed with her personal journey are thoughtful meditations on desire, enabling behaviour and women’s role as caregivers.
James and Nora: A Portrait of a Marriage
Edna O’Brien
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £6.99, pp80
It’s 20 years since O’Brien wrote her highly acclaimed biography of James Joyce, the writer she has said was of greater influence on her than any other author. Here, she revisits the demigod of Irish literature in a compact biography of his relationship with his wife, Nora. O’Brien discusses Joyce’s ambivalence towards his mother, his terror of being provincial and describes with immense intimacy the initial meeting and subsequent love affair between Joyce and Nora. “Love is a paradox,” O’Brien writes. “Everything about Joyce was paradoxical.”
THE GUARDIAN
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