Dotter of Her Father's Eyes

Starred review from February 13, 2012
In this graphic memoir, Mary S. Talbot intertwines two coming-of-age stories and constructs a powerful narrative about family, gender, and identity at two very different moments in the 20th century. Talbot, the daughter of Joycean scholar, James Atherton, parallels her own upbringing with that of James Joyce’s daughter, Lucia. Though Talbot’s relationship with her father was a source of conflict in her life—a relationship that was alternately characterized by affection, anger, and indifference—it was not nearly as tragic as the story of Lucia Joyce, a young woman who wanted more than what the sexual politics of the early modernist period and her dysfunctional family were willing to afford her. The narrative does a remarkable job at taking a close, critical look at the distinction between our public and our private selves, and how we can sometimes win the admiration of everyone but those closest to us. Talbot’s illustrations show exceptional dexterity in moving from the monochromatic past to the more colorful present, with the changing color palette suggesting the changing social climate for women. Those looking for a graphic memoir that provides an insightful study of how 20th-century sexual politics played out on the home front will be hard pressed to do better than the present title.

May 15, 2012

Offering a double helping of James Joyce's offspring, the Talbots contrast the life of Joyce's biological daughter, Lucia (born 1907), with that of author Mary Talbot (born 1954), a literary sister from another mister: Joycean scholar James S. Atherton. Both had culturally rich but difficult childhoods with difficult fathers; both chafed under rules about what girls "should" do. Mary escaped, gained success as an author and scholar of language and gender, and found love from a supportive mate. Lucia found neither. Her dance career was sabotaged by her family, her psycho-stability was assaulted by the Joyce menage's relocations per James's needs, and her romances foundered. Lucia developed schizophrenia as she neared age 30 and spent her remaining years in mental institutions. Bryan Talbot's realistic line drawings portray the girls' stories with different color schemes and faux scrapbook details, enhancing clarity and visual interest. VERDICT In their life's work, both women drew much from their fathers' legacies despite roadblocks, but only Mary realized her dream. This poignant, historically relevant cautionary tale makes excellent classroom fodder for gender-related curricula and will appeal to young women exploring their own futures. Adult collections and fine for high schoolers.--M.C.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
James S. Atherton, Mary Talbot's father, was an expert on James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. He would utter snippets from the novel's circular steam of ingeniously spelled, multivalent puns whenever they seemed appropriate to the moment, among them the title of this book, which Joyce applied to his daughter, Lucia. Atherton was so deeply involved with Joyce that it is only natural for Mary to entwine her and Lucia's early lives into a book that, though about many other things, is mostly concerned with her own relationship with her father. While it had its stresses, that relationship was very different from Joyce's with his daughter, which led to Lucia's psychological destruction as a result of her father's domination by her very conventional mother. As absorbed in his career as his idol and withal rather irascible, Atherton was nonetheless much more crucially involved in Mary's development, and she became a literary scholar like him. The ace English comics artist Bryan Talbot never takes a wrong step in visualizing the courses of each of his wife's subjects.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)