Nora: The Real Life of Molly Bloom

This is the perfect companion to Richard Ellmans bio of JJ. I first read it when it came out a few years ago and I found it to be a good "other side of the story". Much has been made of Joyce's letters to his wife and of her being the model for Molly Bloom. He must have been a happy man if that was the case. She was all woman.

The story of Nora and James Joyce's unconventional relationship and how it shaped the writings of one of history's most controversial authors. This book is nothing short of riveting, both in terms of the story it is telling and the way it is told. It explores the influence Nora held over Joyce in his life and his writing and gives countless examples of how he used the experiences of those around him in his books. More than anything, this is the story of a woman struggling to hold her life and her family together in the face of hardship after hardship. A truly incredible read that I couldn't put down until the last page - I even read the bibliography!

I'm a life long Joyce fan and I have to admit that I enjoyed this life of Jim's wife (only she could call him Jim!) Nora even more than I did the three volume Ellman biography of Joyce himself. In fact, Joyce fans will probably learn more about Joyce's writing by reading about his wife than about him. This is one of the most outstanding biographies I have ever read -- it's fascinating to learn how Joyce used Nora's every utterance somewhere in his works even though she herself never read Ulysses.