Nora Webster by Colm Toibin

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin is a quiet book about a newly widowed mother of four who is learning to navigate without her husband Maurice, who had died from a heart attack. Two of the children, the daughters, are young adults and away at school. The two younger sons and Nora are now on their own in Wexford, Ireland, in the 1960s.

Forced to sell the family’s vacation home, Nora is soon back to work after years of being a homemaker for her family. Some of her in laws are helping with the children’s education and other expenses. Slowly Nora reshapes her life and finds new interests so that she can carry on.This is definitely a character driven book as it explores how to navigate own’s life after losing a life partner.

This is my first reading experience with the author Colm Toibin who was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1955. Nora Webster is his eighth novel. Having worked as a journalist for for many years, he is a regular contributor to the Dublin Review, the New York Review of Books, and the London Review of Books.