The Joyce Girl

  6. Is James Joyce a main character in this novel? How does the nickname of ‘Babbo’ separate James Joyce the character from James Joyce the writer?

  7. Did the Historical Note/Afterword change your perceptions of any of the characters?

  8. What role did Nora play in her daughter’s demise?

  9. Are there any early signs of Lucia’s fragility that her friends or family could have spotted?

  10. Does the novel offer any insights into father–daughter relationships?

  About the Author

  Annabel Abbs graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in English Literature. The Joyce Girl is her first novel and won the Impress Prize for New Writers 2015, an annual prize aimed at discovering and publishing new writing talent. The Joyce Girl was also longlisted for the Bath Novel Award 2015 and the Caledonia Novel Award 2015, and is being published in several countries around the world including Australia and Germany. She lives with her husband, four children and an ageing dog in London and Sussex, and has just completed her second novel.

  Copyright

  First published 2016

  by Impress Books Ltd

  Innovation Centre, Rennes Drive, University of Exeter Campus, Exeter EX4 4RN

  © Annabel Abbs 2016

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 13: 978–1–907605–87–1 (pbk)

  ISBN 13: 978–1–907605–88–8 (ebk)

  Typeset in Plantin

  by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon