Banville book begins where 19th century novel ends
The Wexford-born author John Banville has revealed that he is about to publish a sequel to the acclaimed Henry James novel The Portrait of a Lady which was published in 1881.
Banville who won the Booker Prize for his novel The Sea set in Rosslare credits his wife with the inspiration. She was re-reading the book some years ago and advised her husband that he should consider writing a follow-up..
Interestingly, another Wexford writer Colm Tóibín was shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize for his fifth novel The Master which depicts Henry James in the final years of the 19th century, following him after his failure in the London theatre with the play Guy Domville to his seclusion in the town of Rye in East Sussex where in the following years he rapidly produced several masterpieces.
The new Banville book Mrs. Osmond is written in the style of the British American author and begins where the 19th century novel ends. It will be published in October by Viking, an imprint of Penguin.
Banville considers James to be the greatest novelist of all time and said that writing the book felt like he was in one of the author’s ghost stories.
The Portrait of a Lady tells the story of Isabel Archer. a young American woman who visits her uncle in England and inherits his fortune. After rejecting two earlier proposals of marriage because she wants to remain independent, she weds an American man and goes to live in Italy. The marriage is loveless and Isabel, now known as Mrs. Osmond returns to England to look after her cousin.
‘It is absolutely a sequel. It started where the Portrait of a Lady ends. It’s written in a Jamesian style. I mean it’s not as intricate as James but to look at it superficially, you could mistake it for James,’ said Banville.
The prolific Wexford author’s most recent book was the non-fiction Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir about his experience of the capital city as a young man. A new mystery novel under his pen name Benjamin Black will be published in June.