Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of Norah Hoult, an Irish writer who, despite a massive output – 25 novels and three short story collections – is not mentioned with any regularity in conversations about Irish writing. Born in 1898 to an Irish Catholic mother and Protestant father (who had eloped), Hoult was an outsider from an early age. After both parents died when she was nine, she and her brother were sent to England, pinballing between relatives and boarding schools. After school, she found work with newspapers and magazines, and wrote many book reviews over the course of her life, notably for the New Statesmen. Her first book, Poor Women!, a collection of stories, was published in 1928, followed by two novels, Time, Gentleman, Time! in 1930 and Apartment to Let in 1931. She relocated to Ireland that year, and counted James Stephens and Oliver St John Gogarty among her friends. Apparently W.B. Yeats, upon seeing her at a party, asked someone, “who is the woman with fine …
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