Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Nora Webster
Colm Toibin
Review by Priscilla Comen
Nora Webster
Colm Toibin
Review by Priscilla Comen
Nora Webster, by Colm Toibin, is the tender story of a woman who has lost her husband of many years. It tells of how she deals with her aloneness and how her four children cope too. Her two sons, Conor and Donal live with her. Conor is more outgoing, Donal a sensitive child who stutters. The boys had stayed with their great aunt Josie during the last weeks of their father’s illness when their mother was most involved with caring for him. Her daughters live away from home at college.
At first after Maurice’s death, Nora was besieged by calls and visits from friends. She has a lot to contend with and must decide whether to sell their car and vacation home. She is offered a job at the office where she had worked prior to her marriage. Nora’s’ sisters, Fiona and Una, talk together at Nora’s about shopping and fashion in London and Aine’s grades in Latin. No one asks about Nora’s job. On the TV, Nora sees a riot in Derry.
When Nora comes home from work she learns that Conor and Donal have been fighting every day. This disturbs her. At the office she has an argument with the office manager who is a shrew. Sister Thomas, a local nun, steps in to arrange a return to the Gibney office with no hard feelings. At Christmas, aunt Margaret gives Donal a darkroom she has built for him at her home. This serves to change his life.
At a secret meeting, Nora is asked to join a union of workers. She decides on her own to go and is proud of herself. She hadn’t needed time to think about it as Maurice or most people would have. The Gibneys feel betrayed when they find out and threaten to close the business. Nora sees a teacher in town who tells her that Donal doesn’t pay attention in class. But Margaret says he’s clever in the darkroom. He is obsessed with his camera and developing film in the darkroom. He goes to the hotel where they are all on vacation at the seaside and photographs the television pictures of the moon landing. But soon the manager kicks him out because he is not resident there. Fiona, the other daughter, had a party at the house and made a mess of it. Aine got good grades and will be going to college in Dublin. Donal takes photos of the riots in Derry and Belfast. It’s like a war there.
Nora goes to Laurie O’Keefe’s house to audition for the choir Laurie leads. She goes to Laurie’s on Tuesdays for lessons. She tells no one. Her mother had been a singer. She also goes to a gramaphone Society meeting and then goes shopping for a phonograph. She loves the sound of it but says she’ll think about it. The next week Nora goes to the Radford’s to listen to records. They give her a record of Beethoven’s Trios to take home.
When Conor is moved from A class to B class for no reason, Nora goes to see the Brother in charge. Nora demands he return Conor to A class where he belongs. She writes to all the teachers saying she will picket with a placard if Conor is not returned and she will put a widow’s curse on anyone who crosses her picket. Conor is escorted back to A class on Monday morning and Nora is pleased with her power. The next week she buys a phonograph and then goes to the city to buy records. She barters with the salesman on the price and feels confident.
Aine is on a television panel and Nora sees her. Aine says instead of the British running guns they should improve water and electrical conditions in Dublin’s tenements. There is a huge march and the British Embassy is burned and Aine is missing. Nora sees her dead husband Maurice sitting in a chair and talks to him. This is very typical of Irish stories and author Toibin is no exception. What happens to the boys and to Aine? Does Nora achieve independence and the power to live her life successfully? Find out on the fiction shelf of your local library.
At first after Maurice’s death, Nora was besieged by calls and visits from friends. She has a lot to contend with and must decide whether to sell their car and vacation home. She is offered a job at the office where she had worked prior to her marriage. Nora’s’ sisters, Fiona and Una, talk together at Nora’s about shopping and fashion in London and Aine’s grades in Latin. No one asks about Nora’s job. On the TV, Nora sees a riot in Derry.
When Nora comes home from work she learns that Conor and Donal have been fighting every day. This disturbs her. At the office she has an argument with the office manager who is a shrew. Sister Thomas, a local nun, steps in to arrange a return to the Gibney office with no hard feelings. At Christmas, aunt Margaret gives Donal a darkroom she has built for him at her home. This serves to change his life.
At a secret meeting, Nora is asked to join a union of workers. She decides on her own to go and is proud of herself. She hadn’t needed time to think about it as Maurice or most people would have. The Gibneys feel betrayed when they find out and threaten to close the business. Nora sees a teacher in town who tells her that Donal doesn’t pay attention in class. But Margaret says he’s clever in the darkroom. He is obsessed with his camera and developing film in the darkroom. He goes to the hotel where they are all on vacation at the seaside and photographs the television pictures of the moon landing. But soon the manager kicks him out because he is not resident there. Fiona, the other daughter, had a party at the house and made a mess of it. Aine got good grades and will be going to college in Dublin. Donal takes photos of the riots in Derry and Belfast. It’s like a war there.
Nora goes to Laurie O’Keefe’s house to audition for the choir Laurie leads. She goes to Laurie’s on Tuesdays for lessons. She tells no one. Her mother had been a singer. She also goes to a gramaphone Society meeting and then goes shopping for a phonograph. She loves the sound of it but says she’ll think about it. The next week Nora goes to the Radford’s to listen to records. They give her a record of Beethoven’s Trios to take home.
When Conor is moved from A class to B class for no reason, Nora goes to see the Brother in charge. Nora demands he return Conor to A class where he belongs. She writes to all the teachers saying she will picket with a placard if Conor is not returned and she will put a widow’s curse on anyone who crosses her picket. Conor is escorted back to A class on Monday morning and Nora is pleased with her power. The next week she buys a phonograph and then goes to the city to buy records. She barters with the salesman on the price and feels confident.
Aine is on a television panel and Nora sees her. Aine says instead of the British running guns they should improve water and electrical conditions in Dublin’s tenements. There is a huge march and the British Embassy is burned and Aine is missing. Nora sees her dead husband Maurice sitting in a chair and talks to him. This is very typical of Irish stories and author Toibin is no exception. What happens to the boys and to Aine? Does Nora achieve independence and the power to live her life successfully? Find out on the fiction shelf of your local library.