World Book Day marked with Pop-up Book Club ‘Nora’
News
25 April 2022
On 23 April, to mark the World Book Day, the Embassy in partnership with the National Library of Latvia, Robert’s Books and Literature Ireland organised a Pop-up Book Club discussion dedicated to the book Nora by Nuala O'Connor. This was our second event in the series on Women and Literature. This was also an opportunity to join the global celebration of the centenary of the first publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses. As we discover in the book, Ulysses would not have been possible without the support and inspiration of one woman, Nora Barnacle.
The book was also chosen by One Dublin One Book initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries. It encourages everyone to read a book connected with the Irish capital city during the month of April every year. You can listen to the author, Nuala O’Connor, speaking on the fascinating life of Joyce‘s wife and inspiration, Nora Barnacle, on RTE radio.
The Book Club gathering took place in the National Library of Latvia. We would like to thank all the participants of the discussions, as well as the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia and the Department of Cross Cultural Communication and Foreign Languages of the Academy of Culture for joining us.
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The Book
When Nora Barnacle, a twenty-year-old from Galway working as a maid at Finn’s Hotel, meets young James Joyce on a summer’s day in Dublin, she is instantly attracted to him, natural and daring in his company. But she cannot yet imagine the extraordinary life they will share together. All Nora knows is she likes her Jim enough to leave behind family and home, in search of a bigger, more exciting life.
As their family grows, they ricochet from European city to city, making fast friends amongst the greatest artists and writers of their age as well as their wives, and are brought high and low by Jim’s ferocious ambition. But time and time again, Nora is torn between their intense and unwavering desire for each other and the constant anxiety of living hand-to-mouth, often made worse by Jim’s compulsion for company and attention. So, while Jim writes and drinks his way to literary acclaim, Nora provides unflinching support and inspiration, sometimes at the expense of her own happiness, and especially at that of their children, Giorgio and Lucia. Eventually, together, they achieve some longed-for security and stability, but it is hard-won and imperfect to the end.
In sensuous, resonant prose, Nuala O’Connor has conjured the definitive portrait of this strong, passionate and loyal Irishwoman. Nora is a tour de force, an earthy and authentic love letter to Irish literature’s greatest muse.
/New Island/