In 1911, Georgie Hyde-Lees briefly met W. B. Yeats. They were to meet again and marry soon after.
More Miracle Than Bird is a “reimagining” (as one
reviewer on the cover states) of the courtship and first year of marriage
between Georgie Hyde-Lees and W. B. Yeats.
The novel begins in 1916 as war is breaking out, but spends most of its
time in 1917, during which their courtship and marriage mostly occurred. She was twenty-five and he was fifty-two.
Georgie was working in a hospital caring for wounded
soldiers and even found herself feeling affection for one of them. W. B. was still pining over his one great
love lost, Maud Gonne. But the two of
them come together and become enthralled with each other as members of The
Order – an occult group that held seances and practiced the reception of
spirits into their bodies. Georgie was
possessed and received messages from “Thomas,” among others.
They have two children together. Also during their marriage, as the editor
points out, Yeats writes his best work – the work that he is now remembered
for – thanks in no little part to his being married to Georgie.
I like historical novels, and this one is engaging and
flows nicely. The characters are real
and one gets a sense of who they are and what they are thinking.
My one qualm with the novel is knowing that it is a
reimagining of the story. My own
googling seems to support the basic storyline, but I am concerned not knowing
how much reimagining the author did. It
would be helpful if she included a list of recommended resources that she
consulted to put together the facts of this history.
[This review appears on my blog, my YouTube channel,
Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
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