The Irishman James Joyce was one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century
The Irishman James Joyce was one of the most celebrated writers of the 20th century. He left behind an impressive literary legacy, and two children whose stories are of sadness and unrealized potential. When Joyce met Nora Barnacle, he was an impoverished struggling writer and she was a Galway chambermaid. The couple had two children together, though they didn’t marry until the children were adults. By the time their son Giorgio reached his teens, Joyce was an international celebrity, thanks to his controversial novel Ulysses. Giorgio took up with a much older married American heiress, and they were eventually married. He had planned to become an opera singer but his alcoholism ruined his chances. The life of James Joyce’s daughter Lucia was especially tragic. She had shown promise as an avant garde dancer but was eventually overcome by mental illness. After multiple episodes of violent and dangerous behavior, Lucia was institutionalized in 1932, at age 25. She would spend t...