Ghost Light
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Review
`O'Conner's involving novel puts you inside the mind of Molly Allgood, an elderly actress wandering round a brilliantly evoked 1950's London' ... `Contrasting with the down-at-heel circumstances to which she is reduced are memories, rendered with sensuous freshness and vernacular wit, of her rich past' --Sunday Times Magazine
`Throughout a complex structure with shifting timeframes, O'Connor's writing is compellingly beautiful and Molly is marvelously drawn. A captivating read' --The Guardian
`A boutique examination of the love affair between JM Synge, Ireland's eminent 20th century playwright, and his fiancée, the actress Molly Allgood ... the tenderness, passion and risk of their drawn out affair is captured in O'Connor's elegant but wistful prose' --Financial Times
`This is a dream of a novel, beautifully written, the tragedy of a disappointed life wrapped in the chewy crust of indomitable humour... take [it] away somewhere quiet and listen to its music for yourself. You won't regret it' --The Irish Times
'Without wasting a word, he conjures up a dilapidated 1950s London that perfectly mirrors its heroine, and creates a spellbinding tale of thwarted love.' --The Herald
'I had to read some bits out loud, they were so funny.'
--The Observer
`I had to read some bits out loud, they were so funny.' --The Observer
`Throughout a complex structure with shifting timeframes, O'Connor's writing is compellingly beautiful and Molly is marvelously drawn. A captivating read' --The Guardian
`A boutique examination of the love affair between JM Synge, Ireland's eminent 20th century playwright, and his fiancée, the actress Molly Allgood ... the tenderness, passion and risk of their drawn out affair is captured in O'Connor's elegant but wistful prose' --Financial Times
`This is a dream of a novel, beautifully written, the tragedy of a disappointed life wrapped in the chewy crust of indomitable humour... take [it] away somewhere quiet and listen to its music for yourself. You won't regret it' --The Irish Times
'Without wasting a word, he conjures up a dilapidated 1950s London that perfectly mirrors its heroine, and creates a spellbinding tale of thwarted love.' --The Herald
'I had to read some bits out loud, they were so funny.'
--The Observer
`I had to read some bits out loud, they were so funny.' --The Observer
Book Description
A powerful and deeply moving masterpiece about love, partings and reconciliation - and of the courage involved in living on nobody else's terms
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed "Star of the Sea" and admire O'Connor's desire to experiment, in this case moving from the pace of a vigorous, oldfashioned yarn (Star of the Sea) to a very different kind of novel - much shorter, slower moving, introspective and filled with memories and flashbacks. It begins with a povertystricken, alcoholic old woman recalling the time spent years ago with the much older, long dead Irish playwright Synge.
The structure of the book is quite "original", making demands on the reader to suspend all usual expectations and "go with the flow" as O'Connor pursues Irish streams of consciousness and recreates past scenes, sometimes writing the story of Molly Allgood's relationship with Synge in the form of a scene from a play.
The quality of the prose is undeniable - beautiful, carefully constructed descriptions, and O'Connor conveys well a sense of loss and nostalgia, but for me the work lacks pace, and I cannnot engage with the characters as I should. I felt ashamed to find it so hard to read and may return to it - but I fear that the lure of another book will always draw me away.
The structure of the book is quite "original", making demands on the reader to suspend all usual expectations and "go with the flow" as O'Connor pursues Irish streams of consciousness and recreates past scenes, sometimes writing the story of Molly Allgood's relationship with Synge in the form of a scene from a play.
The quality of the prose is undeniable - beautiful, carefully constructed descriptions, and O'Connor conveys well a sense of loss and nostalgia, but for me the work lacks pace, and I cannnot engage with the characters as I should. I felt ashamed to find it so hard to read and may return to it - but I fear that the lure of another book will always draw me away.
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the opening pages of Joseph O'Connor's new novel the reader is introduced to Molly Allgood, once acclaimed star of the Irish stage, now living as a down-and-out in 1950s London. She is reminiscing about her life that stretches back to 1907, beginning with her appearance in the Dublin opening of John Synge's controversial play, The Playboy of the Western World.
The unnamed narrator of her story uses a method of telling that is virtually a monologue by Molly, with her talking to herself more often than to anyone else in particular. Surprisingly, it works rather well, evoking as it does the richness of the Irish vernacular, with its witticisms and confrontational yet ironic turns of phrase. The reader soon warms to the character despite the melancholy and sadness in her tone of voice.
She dwells on the circumstances of the love affair she had with Synge, an older man (at the time aged 35 to her 17): religious disapproval was evident from the outset because he was from Protestant stock and she a Roman Catholic, but they also had to contend with the general opprobrium their liaison brought about in the community at large.
As Molly proceeds with her story one is given insights of her gradual yet inevitable fall from grace as an actress; from the world tours, through two failed marriages and the death of a son to her current state bedevilled by her addiction to alcohol.
She still believes in herself however, and is desperately trying to learn a bit part she has been given in a BBC play. Though despair is also present, because she is driven by her impoverishment to try and sell a love letter from Synge - her last link with those exhilarating yet bitter-sweet days in early twentieth century Dublin.
O'Connor has written a tragi-comedy about a memorable character whom is likely to remain in the reader's imagination long after the book is closed. Four stars.
The unnamed narrator of her story uses a method of telling that is virtually a monologue by Molly, with her talking to herself more often than to anyone else in particular. Surprisingly, it works rather well, evoking as it does the richness of the Irish vernacular, with its witticisms and confrontational yet ironic turns of phrase. The reader soon warms to the character despite the melancholy and sadness in her tone of voice.
She dwells on the circumstances of the love affair she had with Synge, an older man (at the time aged 35 to her 17): religious disapproval was evident from the outset because he was from Protestant stock and she a Roman Catholic, but they also had to contend with the general opprobrium their liaison brought about in the community at large.
As Molly proceeds with her story one is given insights of her gradual yet inevitable fall from grace as an actress; from the world tours, through two failed marriages and the death of a son to her current state bedevilled by her addiction to alcohol.
She still believes in herself however, and is desperately trying to learn a bit part she has been given in a BBC play. Though despair is also present, because she is driven by her impoverishment to try and sell a love letter from Synge - her last link with those exhilarating yet bitter-sweet days in early twentieth century Dublin.
O'Connor has written a tragi-comedy about a memorable character whom is likely to remain in the reader's imagination long after the book is closed. Four stars.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I don't often leave reviews. But have been stung into doing so by being truly shocked at the relatively poor ratings that this superb masterpiece has received. It needs a quick 5 starrer in its defence.
Ghost Light is, quite simply, one of the best books I have ever read - and I read a lot, and a lot of "proper fiction." Two of the scenes, one during a rehearsal with Yeats and another written as a piece of drama, are bordering on genius. The writing is breath-taking, the vision of Molly ekeing out her terrible existence, rife with self denial, steeped in poverty, drawing on the faint glory of earlier days and now lurching from filched drink to filched drink is sublime. The wit and style shown by Joseph O'Connor are breath-taking. There is a terrible tension through the day, the main "day" of the novel when you fear whether she will ever make the BBC and her playing her part.
This is not one of those dreary "evocative" books maundering on and on while you struggle to stay awake, or remember - or care - who anyone is, nor is it tediously Oirish but a sparkling display of great tenderness towards both Molly and the more shadowy Synge.
A complete stunner. Why it wasn't wreathed in awards and isn't now basking in a sea of 5-stars I just cannot think.
Ghost Light is, quite simply, one of the best books I have ever read - and I read a lot, and a lot of "proper fiction." Two of the scenes, one during a rehearsal with Yeats and another written as a piece of drama, are bordering on genius. The writing is breath-taking, the vision of Molly ekeing out her terrible existence, rife with self denial, steeped in poverty, drawing on the faint glory of earlier days and now lurching from filched drink to filched drink is sublime. The wit and style shown by Joseph O'Connor are breath-taking. There is a terrible tension through the day, the main "day" of the novel when you fear whether she will ever make the BBC and her playing her part.
This is not one of those dreary "evocative" books maundering on and on while you struggle to stay awake, or remember - or care - who anyone is, nor is it tediously Oirish but a sparkling display of great tenderness towards both Molly and the more shadowy Synge.
A complete stunner. Why it wasn't wreathed in awards and isn't now basking in a sea of 5-stars I just cannot think.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An Irish actress recalls a Golden Age.
In Dublin in 1907 Molly Allgood was the young fiancée of J.M.Synge and acted in The Playboy of the Western World. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andy Lewis
O'Conner raises his own bar here
The novel follows Molly Allgood a once acclaimed star of the Irish stage who was engaged to the Irish playwright John Synge at the time of his death. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Willis
Could not get into it
Star of the Sea was such a great read but Ghost Light seems to have been written by a different author. Read more
Published 7 months ago by jane
GhostLight Joseph O' Connor
Found this book very difficult to read. I had to give up after 126 pages, which is unusual as I would usually never give up on a book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. Mac
the wingeing and complaining a bit much
Lyrical writing. Interesting Characters but I found the wingeing and complaining a bit much. It's chosen as the One City One Book this year in Dublin which will do wonders for... Read more
Published 11 months ago by MadaboutBooks
A very moving story
Ghost Light tells the story of Molly Allgood, a real-life Irish actress who performed under the stage name Maire O'Neill and was engaged to the playwright John Millington Synge at... Read more
Published 11 months ago by H. Skinner
the cranky old lady has the best lines
Molly Allgood O'Neill is a cranky old woman, weakened by extreme poverty and loneliness. An aging actress, she makes her way across London to one of the few jobs she can find-as a... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Amy Henry
Haunted by love
This delicate and touching book spans two periods of time : Molly as a very young actress, mistress of the playwright, John Synge, whose early death haunts her remaining years and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
A parson's egg of a book
The overwhelming opinion of my book group was that while we were determined to like this book, we couldn't warm to it. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Lucia Tilling
Hard going
It's very rarely that I fail to get to the end of a book once I've started it, but I'm afraid this was one of those times. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Reader 11
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