Two Moons: A poignant, witty Irish novel of mothers, daughters - and betrayal

by Jennifer Johnston

In a house overlooking Dublin Bay, Mimi and her daughter Grace are disturbed by the unexpected arrival of Grace's daughter Polly, and her striking new boyfriend. The events of the next few days will lead both of them to reassess the shape of their lives. For while Grace's visitors focus her attention on an uncertain future, Mimi, who receives a messenger of a very different kind, must begin to set herself to rights with the betrayals and disappointments of the past.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland, Literary Fiction, Irish Literature

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jennifer Johnston was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel I should review this book because not many have done so. It is a magical book; I can't tell how the magic was done. I was not particularly fond of the characters, or the plot (such as it is). The writing seems straightforward, with lots of dialogue, much of it artificial. And yet I fell into a sort of lovely trance every time I read a page of this book. There's something about the way it's written -- it makes you long for a different sort of life. I will definitely read more books by this author.
Added later: I recently read The Captains and the Kings, which is also gorgeously written, and doesn't have the artificiality that bothered me a little in Two Moons. Also, I came across a comment by Sebastian Barry, who wrote the introduction to The Essential Jennifer Johnston--I think it refers to the same "magic" quality mentioned above: "If a person can be alive in the same quality of prose that Jennifer Johnston imparts to her subjects, then truly life is worth living because it sings so well." I guess you could say this writing makes you feel more alive.

[Angela Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jennifer Johnston's writing. She is so subtle: she never overwrites or explains, her novels tend to be short but never brief, she completely trusts her readers to get what she’s writing about (a lesson to me, I tend towards over-explaining because I worry people won’t get what I mean which – when you’re reading – is just plain insulting: as if I think the people reading my books might be suffering from some kind of comprehension defect … yerrrrgggghhhh.

And this book is tender. The subject matter is, essentially, family relationships and dying. And the woman who's dying is visited by an angel who is kind and thoughtful and funny and interesting and not at all threatening and not at all as angels are usually imagined to be. He comforts her and talks to her and she to him and he, perhaps, also makes great coffee.

An absolutely beautiful book which, if you haven't read, then you just must.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished: 02.03.2019
Genre: novel
Rating: B
#ReadingIrelandMonth19
Conclusion:.

I loved the close rapport between Mimi (70+mother) Grace (50+ daughter) Mimi, the elderly grandmother is quirky, outspoken, fragile and brave. She lives with her daughter Grace, a stage actress...who is preparing for an upcoming role in Hamlet.
I did not expect this book to be so light and filled with believable, casual dialogue.
What was the hook? Page 7....then you will not want to put the book down!
Jennifer Johnston (Dublin 1930) was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award 2012 from the Irish Book Awards.

[Linde · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

[Ros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a while since I read this book - but its one that you cant put down. It takes the fear away of growing older and wondering how to carry on. I think this book is a masterpiece. I got my Mum to read it - because she finds herself on her own, and I think its one that she read with a smile on her face.

[Chris Waterford · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful tale. A woman in her last months of life and her actress daughter are both great characters. I also enjoyed the romance and the fine writing of the author. I will be looking for more of her books.

[Melanie Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago, before Goodreads. As I was preparing to log the book I just finished, The Gingerbread Woman, I realized that the author had also written this. Remember it vividly as very good.

[Steve Castley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful read. I love the way Jennifer Johnston explored, family life, generational dependence, aging and dying.

[Yoana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Купих тази книга при представянето й с участието на авторката в София през 2005, прочетох я чак сега. Отидох на представянето май защото писателката е ирландка - тогава не знаех колко ще се привържа към ирландската литература по други пътища. Романът е супер четивен, предимно диалог и действия. Главните герои са майка и дъщеря. Едната се бори с миналото си, а другата - с настоящето. Тонът е лек, прозата се лее, няма натегнати драми, дори когато се навлиза в мътни житейски води. Може би затова е толкова приятен за четене. Хареса ми темата за нещастния брак и откровеното, директно отношение към нея. Омръзнало ми е да ми представят дългогодишния брак като абсолютна гаранция и признак на щастие.

[Helen O'Toole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sweet, engaging story of the love of a quirky grandmother, an actress mother & a long suffering almost neglected daughter. Peopled by wonderful characters and especially Bonifacio di Longaro, the attentive angel. Yes, an angel! I got to page 5 and read the description and said “ What the heck?” to myself. The writing is very good indeed especially the conversations between Mimi and Grace. Just a hint to the editor: I love seeing a word like “susarration” “whispering or rustling”
"the susurration of the sea” in a text but don’t use it on page 132 and then in page 154. The reason behind Mimi’s husband’s anger & religious obsession was sadly predictable particularly in Ireland of those days. A gentle book, lovingly written.

[mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book truly depicted a story. It was refreshing and inviting, at the same time drawing you into the atmosphere.

I felt each character’s emotion and understood every aspect to who they are.

This isn’t the type of book where there is suspense or romance or honestly anything; and that’s what makes it so good.

It captures real life in the essence of three women, each in their own stages of life, love, and who they are.

Each woman has their own set of tone and personality, while also maintaining a mirrored reflection to each other, displaying a unique way of familial touch.

Every word written has a gentle hold, displaying life as soft, slow, and quiet.

A perfectly crafted book, nothing more can be said.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can honestly say I did not relate to or love any of the characters. That being said, I still felt like this book had quite a bit of depth and uniqueness. I’m a little bit upset that there is not more of a review or some guiding questions because I left a little bit in the dark with some theories and thoughts. I felt as though some things were just dropped out there without much guidance.

I was kind of expecting the book to have a little more of the Dublin feel to it because it really highlights where the setting is, but that’s quite a minor detail.

The book was quite an easy read, but there was a lot to chew and I appreciate that Aspect as well.

[Lara Vehar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay.

The plot was okay. The characters were okay. It was just .... okay.

I love a good multiple generations story but this one was all right. Grace and Mimi were interesting. Polly was kind of lackluster because we barely see her and the rest of the side characters were okay too.

I didn't really feel the romance though, it felt rushed and shallow and forced. But the rest of the story was okay.

[Lisa]

Nope, I'm not in the mood for angels, real or imagined...
I don't rate books I dont finish.

[Sache · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting story following three generations of women from the same family, touching on the topics of life, theatre, love, and death... It makes you realize that life is short and sometimes things are not as they appear to be. Lots of unexpected crazy things happen in this story. If you haven't experienced some heavy, deep, and unexpectedly weird stuff in your own life, this book may just stun you (because, yes... these types of things actually happen sometimes.)

[halfirishgrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally, I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Johnston, but this book, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired. It didn't seem to have a lot of things that you would typically expect from Johnston. The characters were kind of lacklustre and I couldn't connect with any of them. The plot was kind of odd. I did think the whole Mimi and Bonifacio was interesting, and even kind of amusing at times. The rest of it didn't really grab me. I would have loved for Johnston to actually have explored to some extent Polly and Grace's relationship; or even just Grace's character at all. It seemed like Grace's character mostly just consisted of Mimi talking about how she puts her work before everything else, and Polly getting annoyed at her about that... but nothing was really resolved. Though you would think the conclusion shows some growth, it seems out of the ordinary, and doesn't feel earned.
The whole "romance," if you can call it that, between Paul and Grace was just odd. I didn't understand it in any way. From the first instance it made no sense. It seemed to be grounded in nothing. Their strange courtship was... well, just strange. Their declaration of love towards the end was unrealistic. And the way they ended was just stupid. That whole plot just felt unnecessary and I can't pretend to understand it.
I still enjoyed Johnston's overall writing. Her dialogue, as always, is wonderful. But there was just so much missing. I also thought that it missed a certain sense of place that Johnston's writing often seems to have. As a Dubliner, Johnston's Dublin here didn't feel like Dublin. Her depiction of the city was unrealistic, and I couldn't get a feel for the place as I usually do from her books.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Understated, largely uneventful, yet far from underwhelming examination of parental duty and sacrifice, involving three generations of Irish women - grandmother, mother, and daughter.

The grandmother is Mimi, eighty years old with rapidly failing health, awaiting that 'snapping of the thread'. She begins to have imaginary conversations with an 'angel', a 15th century Italian shoemaker named Bonifacio.

Grace is the daughter of Mimi and mother of Polly, a middleaged actress currently rehearsing the part of Gertrude in Hamlet, whose lines keep running through her head as accompianment to her own flustered thoughts.

Polly is in love with Paul, a young actor who becomes besotted with her mother Grace. In truth, the author isn't very interested in poor Polly, but then the novel is called Two Moons, not Three Moons, so that's fair enough.

Most of the events and conversations are drabbly prosaic, but the interior monologues of Mimi and Grace - especially those of the former, played out with her imaginary angel friend, who keeps her provided with coffee and wine - are the subtle strength of the book.

Of course you can't introduce an angel as a character and not address the big question, which Johnston duely does, fairly nimbly I thought:

"It's all in order, you know, I was sent. I was summoned from the shadows and I will go back to the shadows. I just said I was an angel to put you at your ease."
"Shadows?"
"Peace perhaps."
"Is there such a thing?"
"That's all there is."

Despite that excerpt and the constant presence of death, Two Moons never really strains for any profundity, but it's a brisk and easy read.

[Jayne Bauling · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Night swimming deserves a quiet night" according to R.E.M. There are some lovely scenes where one of the characters swims in the moonlight in this whimsical story.

This is a quick, undemanding read.

Magical realism in Ireland. Elderly mother and middle-aged actress daughter facing up to the past, present and future. I wouldn't say no to an angel/messenger who brewed me good Italian coffee in the mornings, shared bottles on wine with me in the garden and took me shopping for new boots!

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although beautifully written and as insightful as ever into the motivations and inter-twinings of the characters, I enjoyed this a little less than others of hers. But it is possible the mood of it will remain for a while.
A re-read, deliberately-chosen for its shortness, and as sweet and intriguing a glimpse into another family, each with their own set of demands, problems and intricate relationships, all strung together along swimming in the sea.

['jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a paperback edition. I am not remembering this book, which I read in the last five years, but I think I liked it...that is why it is a 2 and not a 3.

[GaiB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quiet and lovely. I enjoyed the writing and the characterisations. Lost half a star for the logic of the sub-story but even that was well resolved. Recommended.