The Master

THE MASTER

by Colm Toibin

 

Awards: Dublin Winner 2006, LA Times Winner 2004

 

Nominations: Booker Finalist 2004, NY Times Finalist 2004

 

Date Read: March 19, 2023

 

In The Master, Toibin embarks on a fictionalized version of Henry James’ life, focusing primarily on his mid-life. Having been born and raised in America, James makes his home in England, traveling through Europe in search of new experiences and material for his novels. At the outset of the novel, we see James mortified by the flop of one his novels turned into a play.

 

James has dedicated his life to his craft. He never marries and his relationships are squeezed in around the love of his life – writing. This is true for family and for friendships. After the flop of his play, when he was literally booed off the stage, James escapes London to avoid running into anyone he may know. In his travels, he falls in love with Rye, a small town in England and sets his heart on residing there.

 

James moves forwards and backwards in time as he remembers his childhood in the U.S. and his well-educated family. He relives the death of his sister Alice. He recalls a deep friendship with Minnie, a woman who he has known since childhood and who died prematurely from cancer. He explores a childhood illness that no one was ever sure if real or not, which prevented him from having to serve in the Civil War, unlike his brothers. And in his relationship with his brother William, he finds the complicated push/pull of a brotherly relationship that is continually at odds.

 

James never marries and never has any romances, although society does talk. Having spent so much time with Constance Fenimore Woolson and having stayed in her home several times, many James followers suspected a romance between them. Woolson ultimately throws herself from her balcony, unable to overcome her propensity to melancholy. In reality, James is attracted to men but never permits himself to act on his feelings.

 

One of the more entertaining portions of this novel was the debacle with his alcoholic servants. James moved both the husband and wife from London to Rye, admiring their dedication and hoping they would be able to adequately settle in a small village. Over times, he suspects the husband of working while he’s inebriated and soon after discovers the wife is also drinking. The drama of how to oust them with minimal fuss was intriguing. 

 

Toibin clearly researched his subject exhaustively and provides a voice to another author that I never knew much about. His ability to envisage the circumstances from which some of James’ more famous novels were born is astounding. The Master being my first exposure to Toibin’s writing, I am quite impressed. 

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