Prisoner of Grace

The Second Trilogy #1

by Joyce Cary

Joyce Cary (1888-1957) is indisputably one of the finest English novelists of this century. His reputation at his death equaled those of such contemporaries as Aldous Huxley and Evelyn Waugh. His exuberant style allowed him to create a vivid array of men and women whose stories embody the conflicts of their day and whose characters are beautifully realized. Written in his last years, his “Second Trilogy” ( Prisoner of Grace ,  Except the Lord , and  Not Honour More ) shows the mature Cary at his most brilliant, as he unfolds the tragicomedy of private lives compromised by politics and religion. While in his earlier trilogy ( Herself Surprised ,  To Be a Pilgrim , and  The Horse’s Mouth ) he pits the visionary artist against an indifferent but by no means dull world, in his masterful “Second Trilogy” he maps that gray landscape between good and evil where life is at its most dangerous.  Prisoner of Grace  (1952) introduces Nina Woodville and the two men in her troubled Chester Nimmo and Jim Latter, each in turn husband and lover. Nimmo is the quintessential hypocrite, a one-time evangelist, labor organizer, and pacifist who accepts the post of Minister of Production in the War Cabinet of 1914-18. Jim, Nina’s cousin, is a dogged army man, forced into the Nigerian service. Nina, orphaned and raised with Jim by a wealthy aunt, is married off to Nimmo, twenty years her senior, though she carries her cousin’s child. Nimmo’s rise to power, Jim’s African exile and return, and the dissolution of Nimmo’s marriage are told in Nina’s own voice. Earthy and full-blooded, both innocent and wise, we find in her a woman as sensual as Emma Bovary, as ravaged as Anna Karenina.

Genres: Fiction

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Cary now undertook his great works examining historical and social change in England during his own lifetime. The First Trilogy (1941–44) finally provided Cary with a reasonable income, and The Horse's Mouth (1944) remains his most popular novel. Cary's pamphlet "The Case for African Freedom" (1941), published by Orwell's Searchlight Books series, had attracted some interest, and the film director Thorold Dickinson asked for Cary's help in developing a wartime movie set partly in Africa. In 1943, while writing The Horse's Mouth, Cary travelled to Africa with a film crew to work on Men of Two Worlds.

Cary travelled to India in 1946 on a second film project with Dickinson, but the struggle against the British for national independence made movie-making impossible, and the project was abandoned. The Moonlight (1946), a novel about the difficulties of women, ended a long period of intense creativity for Cary. Gertrude was suffering from cancer and his output slowed for a while.

Gertrude died as A Fearful Joy (1949) was being published. Cary was now at the height of his fame and fortune. He began preparing a series of prefatory notes for the re-publication of all his works in a standard edition published by Michael Joseph.

He visited the United States, collaborated on a stage adaptation of Mister Johnson, and was offered a CBE, which he refused. Meanwhile he continued work on the three novels that make up the Second Trilogy (1952–55). In 1952, Cary had some muscle problems which were originally diagnosed as bursitis, but as more symptoms were noted over the next two years, the diagnosis was changed to that of motor neuron disease, a wasting and gradual paralysis that was terminal.

As his physical powers failed, Cary had to have a pen tied to his hand and his arm supported by a rope in order to write. Finally, he resorted to dictation until unable to speak, and then ceased writing for the first time since 1912. His last work, The Captive and the Free (1959), first volume of a projected trilogy on religion, was unfinished at his death on March 29, 1957.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first book in Joyce Cary's second trilogy is a psychological look at the politics of marriage. A British woman from a respectable family marries a man from the lower classes to cover a scandal. Her husband proves to be an ambitious politician, obsessed with class, suspicious of everyone, political in his every function, even the maintenance of his own memory. The book follows the couple through the husband's political ascension during the first World War.

Perhaps the only complaint I could make about this book is the lack of beautiful prose. The book is far too concerned with the intricacies of the human relations to spend much time on prose. The style is appropriate, though, and contains plenty of points to contemplate upon completion.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so good and so grim - a wife married to a controlling husband - but here's the twist - he doesn't control her with fear he controls her with guilt and a sense of obligation. By marrying her, he rescued her (she was a "fallen" woman - it was written in the 40s when such things mattered) and he never lets her forget it.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read this for style (yikes!) but do read it for profound insights on human nature.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars