Long out of print, George Moore's classic novella returns just in time for the major motion picture starring Glenn Close as a woman disguised as a man in nineteenth-century Ireland.
Set in a posh hotel in nineteenth-century Dublin, Albert Nobbs is the story of an unassuming waiter hiding a shocking secret. Forced one night to share his bed with an out-of-town laborer, Albert Nobbs' carefully constructed facade nearly implodes when the stranger disovers his true identity-that he's actually a woman. Forced by this revelation to look himself in the mirror, Albert sets off in a desperate pursuit of companionship and love, a search he's unwilling to abandon so long as he's able to preserve his fragile persona at the same time. A tale of longing and romance, Albert Nobbs is a moving and startlingly frank gender-bending tale about the risks of being true to oneself. With a foreword by Glenn Close.
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George Moore was born in Ireland in 1852. At the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, he ran off to Paris to study painting. Immersed in Parisian café society, he mingled with many great artists of the time, but ultimately shifted his ambitions toward writing, struggling to become a poet and playwright. Only after leaving Paris for London did Moore establish himself as a published writer, and in 1894, he found both critical praise and commercial success with his masterwork, the realist novel Esther Waters. He wrote about ten novels in addition to numerous essays and short stories before his death in 1933.
"Albert Nobbs" is a novel by author George Moore (1852-1933) This is available in both paperback and Kindle e-version. The paperback copy is 121 pages in length and retails for $8.00, while the Kindle version is an enhanced edition with bonus Audio/Video/Photograph material that is a 272367 Kb download selling for $3.99.
Background... I became interested in this work when I saw a trailer of the movie starring Glenn Close as 'Albert Nobbs'. It tweaked my interest enough to see if there was a printed version of this work that was first published in 1918. Luckily there was and this review is the result.
SPOILER
The setting is Dublin in Victorian era Great Britain. Albert Nobbs is a successfully employed waiter at a fairly well to do hotel in the city. He has however, a secret... he is a woman. A woman carefully clothed and secluded in living accommodations over the years to conceal her facade. But a chance encounter causes her to review her life of disguise and starts her thinking of an existance, that to this point, contains only endless days of missing the most basic needs of human companionship... thus the tale of our heroine unfolds for its readers.
END SPOILERS
This is a short story that is written in terms and the vernaculars of mid-later 19th century England/Ireland, so some terminology will seem quaint and old-fashioned by todays standards. That being said there was a consistent excellence to the prose and a nicely paced development of the story-line.
In addition to a somewhat different but intriguing tale, the Kindle e-version also contains several short cinematic clips (making for the unusually large download) that are playable on your tablet or computer.... These include the trailer that I saw at the theater and several other short scenes. Also included are a few photographs of the stars of the movie in costume.
Conclusion: I really liked this book, but in all honesty it was the acting by Glenn Close in the trailers that absolutely won me over...I just had to find out more of the story behind "Albert Nobbs".
Albert Nobbs's story is grounded in sadness: abandonment by her birth parents, rejection/replacement, fear of men and sexual abuse, hopelessness mixed with suicidal thoughts, but a prevailing will to live and support herself as a 'male' waiter at Morrison's Hotel. The turning point in Albert's life comes unexpectedly when another male impersonator, Hubert Page, arrives at Morrison's and needs a bed for the night. Mrs. Baker, the owner, insists, as the hotel is full and she is on good terms with Page, that Albert shares his bed with Hubert for the night. What follows is both comical and tragic, as once they both agree to lie down rigidly, Albert jumps out of bed and accidently lifts her course nightshirt, allowing Hubert to see she, though gaunt, is a woman in disguise.
The reason why Albert's sexual identity was revealed so abruptly and unintentionally was brought about by a flea that Hubert had brought with her unknowingly. This event leads into a discussion in which Albert confides her story to Hubert. Hubert is all too anxious to know what prompted Albert's conversion, and observes:
"Seven years, Page repeated, neither man nor woman, just a perhapser. He spoke these words more to himself than Nobbs, but feeling he had expressed himself incautiously he raised his eyes and read on Albert's face that the words had gone home, and that this outcast from both sexes felt her loneliness perhaps more keenly than before."
The recognition of Albert's questionable sexuality and the culmination of it in sadness inspires Hubert to confess that he, too, is a she. At this point, they are both weary and fall asleep. Page leaves while Albert is asleep and, thus, Albert never gets to hear the complete reason for Hubert's conversion.... Hubert did, before falling asleep, however, suggest that Albert get married: not to a man, but to a woman whom he can share his life with sympathetically, as he had done.
Albert's rational attempts to find a partner that might be sensitive to his situation turn out fruitless, and at the lowest point of dejection, he crosses paths with a female prostitute. This creates an opportunity for Albert to actualize his desire and see how someone might respond to him, but the opportunity vanishes when a male regular appears and coerces the young courtesan away. Albert's inability to act underscores his dilemma and adds to the sadness of his life. He is only discovered to be a female on his deathbed upon examination by the doctor. His secret life, therefore, was a success only in terms of his ability to 'pass' as a male in society. Despite the absence of desire, secrecy, and isolation, there are also elements of humor woven into the deeply psychological study of Nobbs's multifarious character, as there often are in Moore's works in general. Essentially, this exposes the natural humanity of his characters, in addition to drawing attention to the flipside of comedy: tragedy.
I am thrilled to see the text in print and accessible. The Pickering & Chatto (Publishers), 2007, Ed. Ann Heilmann & Mark Llewellyn, _Collected Short Stories of George Moore_ is the more scholarly apparatus, but I think I paid 700 GBP's for the 5 volume collection back in 2007. Thanks to Penguin, and Glenn Close, I can finally introduce "Albert Nobbs" to my students as required reading.Read more ›
I wish I had found this book months ago. Such a beautiful story. I watched the movie first and fell in love. Reading the novella was just a bonus and offered more to the story. If you're open-minded and have a warm heart, get this novella, share it with friends and always keep a place in your heart for Albert Nobbs.
Format:Kindle Edition with Audio/Video|Amazon Verified Purchase
Liked the book very much and still want to see the movie. One reviewer called it badly written--it's written in about the same style as James Joyce's "Ulysses". I don't care for the style, it gets in the way of the story telling, in my opinion, but it's hailed as a legitimate literary style. I thought the story was quite moving and would recommend it to anyone interested in female characters in the late 1800 and early 1900's. However, my only problem is not with the book but with the "enhanced" content. This is supposed to be a Kindle edition but the videos would not play on the Kindle Fire device--very disappointing.
i didn't quite get the flow of the book right away since it was written a while back and in a different country to boot! it was pretty good though. i recommend reading this book and watching the movie. gives more perspective.
The book was 98 pages long...way short to really know a character and get into the happenings of life...it's a good thing I saw the movie first...the price was good though!
This is a review of a book “Albert Nobbs” published by Penguin in 2011. The story first appeared in “A Story-Teller’s Holiday” by George Moore (1852 - 1933) in 1918, an Irish writer best known for “Esther Waters,” an 1894 novel about the eponymous working-class heroine determined to raise her baby as a single mother.
Penguin’s tie-in edition “Albert Nobbs” comes with a four-page foreword by Glenn Close, star of the filmed version (2011) directed by Rodrigo García. She remembers her “far from satisfactory” audition about thirty years ago for “The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs,” a play by Simone Benmussa, based on the George Moore novella. Glenn Close also gives her view on the character Albert, and her interpretation of “Albert’s innocence” is intriguing.
[STORY] The story of “Albert Nobbs” begins as an unnamed narrator looking back at the old days, probably around 1860s, at Morrison’s Hotel in Dublin. The narrator disappears as Albert Nobbs, the hotel’s most dependable servant, enters the story. Albert has something to hide from the world's eyes, and one night a house painter employed by the hotel Hubert Page unwittingly discovers it.
Albert's meeting with Hubert (who promises not to disclose Albert’s secret) slowly changes the mild-mannered waiter, who begins to think of living a new life, but things do not work out as expected.
The novella’s storyline is basically the same as that of the filmed version, but there are some significant changes including the final act. Without revealing much about the story, I can say Hubert and Joe’s roles are much bigger in the filmed version (I haven’t seen or read Benmussa’s play).... These differences may explain some of the complaints about the film, one about a subplot taking over the main storyline in particular.
At several points of the novella Moore employs a narrative device usually called in literary criticism as stream of consciousness. Here is an example from the text that will help you understand: [From p. 67 of the text] Now, what did you think? Helen says. That you didn’t care for me well enough – For what? she asked. You know we’ve going out for three months, and it doesn't seem natural to keep talking always….
Moore’s narrative style is not as dense as James Joyce’s, so I don’t think you will find it hard to follow the dialogue or the story of Albert, which is told with a satirical touch. With several details missing in the film, the book will help you appreciate the filmed version more.Read more ›
