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Firefly
On a secluded hillside in Jamaica lies Firefly, Noël Coward's peaceful retreat. Here, between sundowners and sunsets, brandies and cigarettes, the seventy-year-old Coward whiles away his days -- a comforting, frustrating pattern of unwanted breakfasts, reluctant walks, graceless dips in the pool -- in the company of his manservant Patrice. Set over a series of summer days in the early 1970s, Firefly flits through Coward's dreams and memories, his successes and regrets, against a sultry, seductive backdrop of blue skies and glistening water. Colorful and contemplative, this is a moving portrait of old age and friendship, and a poignant appraisal of a life well lived.
- GenresFictionLGBTContemporary
156 pages, Paperback
First published June 27, 2013
1 person is currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Janette Jenkins
6 books13 followersJanette Jenkins studied acting before completing a degree in Literature and Philosophy and then doing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she was in Malcolm Bradbury's final class.
She is the author of the novels, Columbus Day, Another Elvis Love Child, Angel of Brooklyn, Little Bones and Firefly.
Her short stories have appeared in newspapers and anthologies, including Stand magazine, and have been broadcast on Radio 4. In 2003 she was awarded an Alumni Fellowship by the University of Bolton.
She lives in the city of Durham.
She is the author of the novels, Columbus Day, Another Elvis Love Child, Angel of Brooklyn, Little Bones and Firefly.
Her short stories have appeared in newspapers and anthologies, including Stand magazine, and have been broadcast on Radio 4. In 2003 she was awarded an Alumni Fellowship by the University of Bolton.
She lives in the city of Durham.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 24, 2020
It would appear that Ms. Jenkins has limited to zero knowledge about (a) Noël Coward (b) Firefly or (c) Jamaica, so why she would choose to write this book I have no idea.
Because the novel is entitled ‘Firefly’ I expected a story which would include a graceful description of ‘Firefly’ – the tiny one bedroom cottage and the awe inspiring vistas. Not withstanding the austere simplicity of the house itself, the staggering, breathtaking beauty of ‘Firefly’ may very well defy description, however, in the hands of a skilful author it can be done.
Not a speck of atmosphere is to be found in this book.
What I got was a picture of an aging used-to-be brilliant author/composer/actor/director/lyricist turned obstreperous old curmudgeon(maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t, but that’s not the point) drifting in and out of dreams of his past, including blatant, crude references to Coward’s sexuality.
Even the writing is not fluid. In one paragraph you will find Coward in the present at ‘Firefly’ and the next he is off in a dream of some youthful memory. It all runs together and is hard to follow.
There is no power on earth that could convince me that Noël Coward in any time or place would be heard to utter the words: “Hell’s bells.”
I know this book is fiction, but to use a real person and place the author at least owes the reader a true representation of both.
No one, from reading this book, will have the faintest idea of ‘Firefly’, the place that Noël Coward loved above all else and a place that retains a magical glow you will not get from any photograph and, I admit, would be challenging to capture on paper.
This deserves Zero stars!
Because the novel is entitled ‘Firefly’ I expected a story which would include a graceful description of ‘Firefly’ – the tiny one bedroom cottage and the awe inspiring vistas. Not withstanding the austere simplicity of the house itself, the staggering, breathtaking beauty of ‘Firefly’ may very well defy description, however, in the hands of a skilful author it can be done.
Not a speck of atmosphere is to be found in this book.
What I got was a picture of an aging used-to-be brilliant author/composer/actor/director/lyricist turned obstreperous old curmudgeon(maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t, but that’s not the point) drifting in and out of dreams of his past, including blatant, crude references to Coward’s sexuality.
Even the writing is not fluid. In one paragraph you will find Coward in the present at ‘Firefly’ and the next he is off in a dream of some youthful memory. It all runs together and is hard to follow.
There is no power on earth that could convince me that Noël Coward in any time or place would be heard to utter the words: “Hell’s bells.”
I know this book is fiction, but to use a real person and place the author at least owes the reader a true representation of both.
No one, from reading this book, will have the faintest idea of ‘Firefly’, the place that Noël Coward loved above all else and a place that retains a magical glow you will not get from any photograph and, I admit, would be challenging to capture on paper.
This deserves Zero stars!
November 10, 2013
"Firefly" is a reason to be happy that local, independent bookstores continue to exist. And perhaps the reason that they do. I picked it off a table of recommendations by staff because I'd never heard of the author, because the end of Noel Coward's life seemed like unlikely subject matter, and because the publisher wasn't one I knew well. I wanted something unfamiliar to me.
"Firefly" is a little gem of a novel, about Noel Coward's last couple of week's at him Jamaican retreat, which is eponymous with the novel. His normal manservant is away on a week's break and he is being taken care of by Patrice, a young, seemingly good looking Jamaican who is teeming with life. Coward is 70-years-old and encountering the constant stream of flashbacks and dreams that I suppose novelists think people nearing their death do. While Coward is very drawn to Patrice, he also finds Patrice's constant singing and boisterousness annoying, not conducive to peace and quiet. Patrice is hoping to move to England and dreams of being a waiter at the Ritz in London and attempts to practice silver service techniques as much as possible with Coward and his entourage.
Instead of relying on lachrymose scenes of Coward being ill and dying, Janette Jenkins allows Patrice's departure from Jamaica to serve as a metaphor for Coward's departure from this world. Patrice's wonder at Coward, the celebrity and the person who is his boss, point to what Coward's life must have been. Patrice's vibrancy is also a reminder of who Coward was but also of his love life. And Patrice's final days in Jamaica, experiencing the sadness of leaving one's life and loved ones behind, help us experience what Noel Coward must be feeling as he realizes that he is leaving this life he's loved so dearly behind.
Coward is not encouraging of Patrice's leaving Jamaica. He warns that London is cold and dreary and that Patrice will be met with prejudice and discrimination. Patrice likely won't get a job at the Ritz and if he does, the celebrities and wealthy people whom he encounters won't want to talk to their waiter. Patrice responds to these discouragements in two ways: he will make do until he makes it big and he will become extremely British to diminish the prejudice. He begins to practice the accent and thinks he might change his name to something more British. Coward warns him instead to be himself. People like people who are themselves; be Jamaican.
Being "who you are" is the measure of Coward's life. We learn that he's been knighted much later than expected, partly because, Coward suggests, of his lifestyle, which is to say his homosexuality. By the time he's knighted, the queen is concerned that Coward won't be able to kneel. All those flashbacks in the end serve to show us Coward being who he is, being authentic. While his lovers marry and continue their affairs with men, Coward lives a life that is much closer to authentic. And, as a result, he has every reason to experience the disappearance of life with sadness for the passing of what was.
Jenkins, however, never once describes those feelings of Coward's but, instead, allows Patrice's feelings to stand in for Coward's. That kind of restraint is indicative of the novel and, in the end, allows the reader to reflect more deeply than a less assured writer would have done.
"Firefly" is a little gem of a novel, about Noel Coward's last couple of week's at him Jamaican retreat, which is eponymous with the novel. His normal manservant is away on a week's break and he is being taken care of by Patrice, a young, seemingly good looking Jamaican who is teeming with life. Coward is 70-years-old and encountering the constant stream of flashbacks and dreams that I suppose novelists think people nearing their death do. While Coward is very drawn to Patrice, he also finds Patrice's constant singing and boisterousness annoying, not conducive to peace and quiet. Patrice is hoping to move to England and dreams of being a waiter at the Ritz in London and attempts to practice silver service techniques as much as possible with Coward and his entourage.
Instead of relying on lachrymose scenes of Coward being ill and dying, Janette Jenkins allows Patrice's departure from Jamaica to serve as a metaphor for Coward's departure from this world. Patrice's wonder at Coward, the celebrity and the person who is his boss, point to what Coward's life must have been. Patrice's vibrancy is also a reminder of who Coward was but also of his love life. And Patrice's final days in Jamaica, experiencing the sadness of leaving one's life and loved ones behind, help us experience what Noel Coward must be feeling as he realizes that he is leaving this life he's loved so dearly behind.
Coward is not encouraging of Patrice's leaving Jamaica. He warns that London is cold and dreary and that Patrice will be met with prejudice and discrimination. Patrice likely won't get a job at the Ritz and if he does, the celebrities and wealthy people whom he encounters won't want to talk to their waiter. Patrice responds to these discouragements in two ways: he will make do until he makes it big and he will become extremely British to diminish the prejudice. He begins to practice the accent and thinks he might change his name to something more British. Coward warns him instead to be himself. People like people who are themselves; be Jamaican.
Being "who you are" is the measure of Coward's life. We learn that he's been knighted much later than expected, partly because, Coward suggests, of his lifestyle, which is to say his homosexuality. By the time he's knighted, the queen is concerned that Coward won't be able to kneel. All those flashbacks in the end serve to show us Coward being who he is, being authentic. While his lovers marry and continue their affairs with men, Coward lives a life that is much closer to authentic. And, as a result, he has every reason to experience the disappearance of life with sadness for the passing of what was.
Jenkins, however, never once describes those feelings of Coward's but, instead, allows Patrice's feelings to stand in for Coward's. That kind of restraint is indicative of the novel and, in the end, allows the reader to reflect more deeply than a less assured writer would have done.
February 13, 2014
Interesting imagining of Noel Coward's later life, in which he drifts between his apparently miserable existence - although it is, at least, warm - in his Jamaican home, and dreams of earlier, healthier, happier times. It is a melancholy book, and it certainly does not picture old age as any kind of picnic.
Of course I have nits to pick. At one point the author has Coward use the phrase "new-age quacks". The book takes place in 1971, a little bit before the term "new-age" would have been used so casually by the general public, I think. The movement was around, I gather, but Coward was not a spiritual seeker, and it doesn't seem like something he would say. The other thing that kind of took me out of the moment was when the author describes Coward thinking about Las Vegas in the 1950's, and picturing "bespectacled middle-aged ladies, pulling the one-armed bandits as if their lives depended on it", making the Vegas of the mid-50's seem like the Vegas of the mid '70's and 80's.In the 50's, Vegas was not so large, nor as big a tourist destination as it later became. And when people did go there, they tended to dress up. Back in the day people got dressed up to go to the theater and to supper clubs and fancy restaurants, even in Las Vegas. Think "Rat Pack." Although Las Vegas was out in the middle of the desert, apparently the sophisticated Noel Coward performed there in 1955, and an adult would have dressed up for that. I don't think it became a major destination for middle-aged snowbirds until two decades later, when the city started to cater to that crowd, and to families, more.
Of course I have nits to pick. At one point the author has Coward use the phrase "new-age quacks". The book takes place in 1971, a little bit before the term "new-age" would have been used so casually by the general public, I think. The movement was around, I gather, but Coward was not a spiritual seeker, and it doesn't seem like something he would say. The other thing that kind of took me out of the moment was when the author describes Coward thinking about Las Vegas in the 1950's, and picturing "bespectacled middle-aged ladies, pulling the one-armed bandits as if their lives depended on it", making the Vegas of the mid-50's seem like the Vegas of the mid '70's and 80's.In the 50's, Vegas was not so large, nor as big a tourist destination as it later became. And when people did go there, they tended to dress up. Back in the day people got dressed up to go to the theater and to supper clubs and fancy restaurants, even in Las Vegas. Think "Rat Pack." Although Las Vegas was out in the middle of the desert, apparently the sophisticated Noel Coward performed there in 1955, and an adult would have dressed up for that. I don't think it became a major destination for middle-aged snowbirds until two decades later, when the city started to cater to that crowd, and to families, more.
September 19, 2013
brilliant
this dramatised or fictional account of Noel Cowerd's declining years living at his small villa in Jamaica is by turns funny , witty and sad . Raather like his near neighbour and close friend Iain Fleming the house that he had built was small and very plain but with a wonderful location .
Cowers is being looked after by a young manservant who dreams of going to the bright lights and glsmour of London and the contrast between his naive dreams and Noel Cowerds sophisticated weary cynicism as they argue and exchange banter is charming . There is real affection between them and the helpless old master despite his career and frindships with the great and the good from the Queen MOthe rto Erroll Flynn is totally unpretentious and relaxed in his pretty simple life at Firefly .
Much of the novel recounts his hazy wandering memories and reminiscences as his health and memory fade . He swears like a trouper which is always a good sign especially when done through his clipped vowels . THe boy from Teddingtom through his talent to amuse , hard work and ambition could hardly have imagined he would end up dying in the caribbean . The end is very sad .
this dramatised or fictional account of Noel Cowerd's declining years living at his small villa in Jamaica is by turns funny , witty and sad . Raather like his near neighbour and close friend Iain Fleming the house that he had built was small and very plain but with a wonderful location .
Cowers is being looked after by a young manservant who dreams of going to the bright lights and glsmour of London and the contrast between his naive dreams and Noel Cowerds sophisticated weary cynicism as they argue and exchange banter is charming . There is real affection between them and the helpless old master despite his career and frindships with the great and the good from the Queen MOthe rto Erroll Flynn is totally unpretentious and relaxed in his pretty simple life at Firefly .
Much of the novel recounts his hazy wandering memories and reminiscences as his health and memory fade . He swears like a trouper which is always a good sign especially when done through his clipped vowels . THe boy from Teddingtom through his talent to amuse , hard work and ambition could hardly have imagined he would end up dying in the caribbean . The end is very sad .
June 5, 2018
This brief narrative of the final weeks of Noel Coward's life spent in Jamaica is written with such crystal clear prose, you feel like you're drinking an especially good gin & tonic which carries you through the highlights of his life that rise to the surface of the drink. The prose is absolutely clear, yet the structure gets at the muddled-ness of his mind in these days, the mixing of past and present, of memories and dreams, while he struggles with the infuriatingly mundane things like buttons, shoes, a Red snapper salad. He is not the kindest person you've ever met, far from it. But Jenkins gets the combination of his daily struggle and his resulting frustration just right, I did not hold it against him. Providing a delightful backdrop that threatens to steal the show is the story of his servant Patrice's goal to get a job at the Ritz.
January 30, 2015
Brilliant idea, disappointing in delivery. Fictional account of the last few months of Noel Coward's life. The ageing grandee sits poolside in the shade of his Jamaican retreat (Firefly), knocking back the G and Ts, chats with the houseboy and recalls his life. Coward had such an interesting life, and his Plays, behind all the wit over cocktails, are so full of tortured emotion - that there should be mileage enough for a hell of book. Jenkins can write, and it's a readable enough novella, but you don't really get the feeling the Jenkins got to grips who Coward was, or even quite what she wanted to say.
April 17, 2014
Not sure what the point was, or what can be believed. Seemed like a writing exercise.
May 25, 2022
brings to mind a high life in Jamaica
an interesting book largely without affection for the main character. Also Noel seems too desiccated for 71. So I tried to think of him as perhaps 81.
an interesting book largely without affection for the main character. Also Noel seems too desiccated for 71. So I tried to think of him as perhaps 81.
February 20, 2025
Terence’s film of this would have been sublime.
March 27, 2014
"Firefly" has some charming passages and achieves a nice effect in portraying the sad final years of one of the great entertainers of the mid twentieth century. I wonder though if the author's goals in writing the book were perhaps excessively modest. "Firefly" is really a novella, and it could be that it falls uneasily between the concision of a short story and the complexity of a longer novel.
It also concerns me somewhat that the book fits too easily into a cultural pattern that has been been set up recently in fictional accounts of famous persons. It's as if there's a delight in showing old people in decline, approaching death. I'm thinking of films like "Iris" - about the last years of the novelist Iris Murdoch, when she was suffering from Alzheimers - and also of "The Iron Lady," the Margaret Thatcher bio-pic. It seems like there is a trend to portray these important notables - as Janette Jenkins does also here in "Firefly" - at the end of their lives, when they have lost their powers and characteristics that made them notable, imporant and interesting in the first day. Yes, it is true that getting old can be devastating and ravaging, but I would prefer to have been shown more of what made Noel Coward a significant cultural icon in the first place - the wit, the style, the charm, the "design for living".
If people are interested in Noel Coward in 2014 - and I'm not sure that many people are - it's not because he became a doddering old fogey sitting by a swimming pool in Jamaica.
It also concerns me somewhat that the book fits too easily into a cultural pattern that has been been set up recently in fictional accounts of famous persons. It's as if there's a delight in showing old people in decline, approaching death. I'm thinking of films like "Iris" - about the last years of the novelist Iris Murdoch, when she was suffering from Alzheimers - and also of "The Iron Lady," the Margaret Thatcher bio-pic. It seems like there is a trend to portray these important notables - as Janette Jenkins does also here in "Firefly" - at the end of their lives, when they have lost their powers and characteristics that made them notable, imporant and interesting in the first day. Yes, it is true that getting old can be devastating and ravaging, but I would prefer to have been shown more of what made Noel Coward a significant cultural icon in the first place - the wit, the style, the charm, the "design for living".
If people are interested in Noel Coward in 2014 - and I'm not sure that many people are - it's not because he became a doddering old fogey sitting by a swimming pool in Jamaica.
November 12, 2023
Having absolutely no interest in the old queen Coward and finding most of his life after the 1920s an unending example of a waste of time which Coward punctuated by constantly complaining that the world changed and nobody wanted to hear his 'views' or opinions and was furious that his out dated shows kept garnering smaller audiences and fainter praise. Because of this I have been unfair to the author who is a better writer then my two stars might suggest - but I can't get past the subject. Intellectually Coward never progressed much beyond the chorus boy he was who tarted himself out to any older man to advance his career (such as Tuke the painter of fisher boys in Cornwall - there is a least one charming picture of them swimming naked together) and whose superficial mannerisms he could copy as he climbed his way into what he hoped was acceptance and society. The problem was he was and remained an outsider, never comfortable in himself, or with who or what he was - and I don't just mean the gay side - his fawning over royals was the most obvious way that would have marked him as gauche and just 'not one of us' for all those who he so much wanted to be accepted by.
To sum up - well written book about the final days of a dreary old queen.
To sum up - well written book about the final days of a dreary old queen.
keep-in-mind
January 25, 2014Added 1/25/14.
I learned about this book via an article in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/boo...
The NY Times lead-in description says: "Janette Jenkins imagines Noël Coward’s last years."
I've always loved the work of Noel Coward. He was a fascinating individual. Very clever with words.
Here's the Amazon.com page where you can "look inside" the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609...
I learned about this book via an article in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/boo...
The NY Times lead-in description says: "Janette Jenkins imagines Noël Coward’s last years."
I've always loved the work of Noel Coward. He was a fascinating individual. Very clever with words.
Here's the Amazon.com page where you can "look inside" the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1609...
January 3, 2014
Noël Coward spent his last years, at Firefly, his home in Jamaica, where he died of a heart attack at 73 in the early 1970s. In the novel, Noel Coward has no energy or appetite. He spends much of his time sleeping and reminiscing about the old days. His servant Patrice wants to work at the Ritz in London and wants a recommendation from Noel. The dialogue between Noel and Patrice is fun. I enjoyed the book and the flashbacks but the book would have been more interesting if I knew more about Noel Coward.
December 26, 2013
I was hoping to like this more although I couldn't tell you what I was expecting. It is at its essence about a wealthy older man at the end of his life pretty much alone except for the people he hires to take care of him. The fact that he's Noel Coward doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference.
May 27, 2014
A melancholy tale about Noel Coward, toward the end of his life, reflecting on all the fabulous times he had in life. The time slips between past and present were mainly in dreams, but overall it was entertaining.
February 14, 2015
It was OK, but it lacked dramatic tension and seemed strongly influenced by "Father of Frankenstein." The Noel Coward in this book is angry and petulant and unattractive. It had its moments, but they are few and far between.
August 27, 2016
Immeasurably sad
Imagine a depleted Noel Coward. Physically frail. Artistically spent. Dependent on the kindness of servants. All as a vehicle to introduce the captivating character Patrice. Almost cruel, I would say. Cannot recommend.
Imagine a depleted Noel Coward. Physically frail. Artistically spent. Dependent on the kindness of servants. All as a vehicle to introduce the captivating character Patrice. Almost cruel, I would say. Cannot recommend.
December 20, 2013
Pleasant enough, but not having a strong prior interest in Noel Coward, it probably wasn't as captivating to me as it seemingly is for others.
January 30, 2014
I was too young for this book, but the melancholy of a great man's twilight years was easy to relate to - although far away in time and space.
August 3, 2016
A true-feeling story. Watching Noel Coward decline, after getting the feeling of what his life was like before the decline through flashbacks was not easy, but it was rewarding.
June 5, 2014
Kind of dreamy.
April 9, 2014
Easy read, entertaining.
June 19, 2014
I found it interesting...sometimes humorous but mostly sad because I so loved the young, very talented, vibrant, singing, dancing, acting Noel Coward.
August 1, 2014
Noel Coward's final years in Jamaica. Sometimes pathetic, touching.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2014
A very quick and glossed over account of Noel Coward's last days and I would've preferred more flashbacks to his life, but I suppose that is what a biography is for.
February 13, 2015
To paraphrase another reviewer, good idea, disappointing delivery.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews