Book Description
"In The Master, award-winning author Colm Tóibín tells the story of Henry James, the famous American novelist who left his country to live in Europe among privileged artists and writers. With stunningly resonant prose and emotional intensity, Tóibín captures the loneliness and longing, the hope and despair of a man whose forays into intimacy inevitably failed him and those he tried to love. Time and again, James, a master of psychological subtlety in his fiction, proves blind to his own heart."

A birthday present from my wish list.

I wanted to read this book because I had read and enjoyed Author! Author! by David Lodge a few months ago and I read that Toibin's version of essentially the same story was generally considered better. Toibin focusses on Henry James' life between 1895 and 1899, especially the disastrous attempt at writing for the stage, the death of his sister Alice, his relationship with his friends, relatives and servants and finally his complicated relationship with the woman in his later life, Constance Fenimore Woolston and her suicide. Lodge tackled the same subjects in much the same way, although the writing styles are different. James is a good subject for Toibin because he fits the themes of displaced national and cultural identity, and repressed homosexuality (or uncertain sexual identity) that tend to mark his work.

I had mixed reactions to the book. It is written in a clear readable prose style with good development of ideas and characters, but it is rather humourless and I found it a little dull. On balance I preferred Lodge's slightly lighter treatment. I should also admit that I have not read any of James' books, although I went out and bought a collection of his novellas while reading the book. Toibin assumes you know the plots of the stories James was working on during this time frame and are interested in relating them to the events in his life.