Penelope Unbound
Published on 20. February 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-7393979-9-9 (ISBN)
Description
Trieste, 1904. James Joyce - not yet famous - arrives in the city by train with Norah Barnacle. Penniless, he goes to seek out a loan, leaving Norah sitting on a suitcase outside the train station for almost an entire day and night. In reality, Norah waited for him; they were reunited, and the rest is history. But what if she hadn't?
In Penelope Unbound, one of Ireland's greatest living novelists weaves a spellbinding speculative narrative. By unhooking Norah from her famous husband, Mary Morrissy gives her a compelling new voice, with heartbreak and humanity all her own. Sensual, inventive and uproariously funny, Penelope Unbound reimagines a Joycean heroine for the modern age.
In Penelope Unbound, one of Ireland's greatest living novelists weaves a spellbinding speculative narrative. By unhooking Norah from her famous husband, Mary Morrissy gives her a compelling new voice, with heartbreak and humanity all her own. Sensual, inventive and uproariously funny, Penelope Unbound reimagines a Joycean heroine for the modern age.
Reviews / Votes
Selected as a best book of 2023 by The New Statesman, The Last Word on Today FM and the Irish Examiner'A novel of great brilliance and inventiveness, a remarkably - and mysteriously - moving story of what might have been ... It is a stylistic tour de force that Joyce himself would surely have admired: Nora's voice is earthy, funny, by turns knockabout and melancholy, plain and lyrical, accepting and bitterly regretful.' John Banville, The Observer
'A new Mary Morrissy is always a treat. She's a master of capturing each character's unique voice and Penelope Unbound is Morrissy at the height of her game: attentive to the details of her story, linguistically playful and captivating at every turn. This novel felt like stepping into a familiar story through a very different door.' Jan Carson, author of The Raptures
'Penelope Unbound is a scintillating, audacious, and engrossing novel. It wittily deconstructs the lives of James Joyce and Norah Barnacle and gives them back to us in vivid and freshly conceived form.' Anne Fogarty, Professor of James Joyce Studies, UCD
'Given Nora's iconic status, I'd say it took considerable courage and chutzpah to carry this novel off.' Carlo Gebler, Irish Independent
'A dazzling portrait of Norah Barnacle, resplendent in a reimagined life freed from the shadow of her famous husband. And what a character she is: spirited, funny, lively, intelligent, brought to vivid life in sparkling, sensuous prose by a novelist at the height of her powers.' Lisa Harding, author of Bright Burning Things
'A richly detailed alternative reality based on the known facts ... laugh-aloud funny as well as taking some imaginative leaps that will literally take your breath away.' Alannah Hopkin, Irish Examiner
'Penelope Unbound weaves a moving, imaginative, surprising, and hugely involving alternative history: the life of Norah Barnacle without James Joyce. The language toys with Joyce's rhythms, but is distinctively its own - it's a language that belongs to Mary Morrissy's compellingly reimagined Norah, who is, like this novel itself, funny, richly perceptive and startlingly alive. A wonderful, fascinating book.' Kevin Power, author of White City
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Ireland
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
278 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-7393979-9-9 (9781739397999)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Person
Dublin-born Mary Morrissy is the author of three previous novels, Mother of Pearl, The Pretender and The Rising of Bella Casey, and two collections of stories, A Lazy Eye and Prosperity Drive. Her short fiction has been anthologised widely and two of her novels have been nominated for the Dublin Literary Award. Her debut, Mother of Pearl, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award and she has won a Hennessy Award and a Lannan Foundation Award for her fiction. A member of Aosdana, she is a journalist, a teacher of creative writing and a literary mentor. She blogs on art, fiction and history at marymorrissy.com.