Jennifer Johnston (1) (1930–2025)
Author of How Many Miles to Babylon?
For other authors named Jennifer Johnston, see the disambiguation page.
Works by Jennifer Johnston
The Essential Jennifer Johnston: The Captains and the Kings, The Railway Station Man, Fool's Sanctuary (1999) 42 copies, 1 review
The Captains and the Kings {1972} 2 copies
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Johnston, Jennifer Prudence
- Other names
- Johnston, Jennifer
- Birthdate
- 1930-01-12
- Date of death
- 2025-02-25
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Trinity College, Dublin
- Occupations
- novelist
short story writer
playwright - Organizations
- Aosdána
- Awards and honors
- Irish Book Award (lifetime achievement|2012)
- Relationships
- Johnston, Denis (father)
Richards, Shelah (actor|mother)
Smyth, Patrick (journalist|son) - Short biography
- Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin, Ireland and has lived most of her life in Northern Ireland. Her parents were actor-director Shelah Richards and playwright Denis Johnston. She was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. Her first two novels, The Captains and the Kings (1972) and The Gates (1973) are set in decaying Anglo-Irish manor houses. Many of her works explore Irish political and culture tensions. Often they concern interpersonal relationships and the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood. Her third novel, How Many Miles to Babylon? (1974) was adapted for the stage. Her book The Old Jest (1979) won the Whitbread Novel Award and was adapted into a 1988 film entitled The Dawning. She also has written short stories and plays, including Three Monologues: Twinkletoes; Mustn’t Forget High Noon; Christine (1995), and The Desert Lullaby: A Play in Two Acts (1996). She is a member of Aosdána, an Irish association of artists.
- Nationality
- Ireland
- Birthplace
- Dublin, Ireland
- Places of residence
- Dublin, Ireland
Paris, France
London, England, UK
Derry, County Derry, Ireland (1970s-2019)
Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland - Place of death
- Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland (nursing home)
- Associated Place (for map)
- Ireland
Members
Reviews
For such a brief book, How Many Miles to Babylon is a work of startling delicacy and power. Set in the dying days of the Irish Ascendancy just before the start of WWI and the 1916 Rising ensured that "all changed, changed utterly", it tells the story of two young Irish men. Alex, an upper-class Protestant, and Jerry, a working class Catholic, who become friends despite the class divisions between them: a friendship that's both erotically charged and very strong, and which leads to one of the show more starkest, most powerful endings of any book I've ever read.
I first read this as part of my Leaving Cert syllabus, all the way back in 2002. I adored it and re-read it many times before the year was out; though, for some reason, the rest of the class didn't share my affection for it, and my teacher went to great pains to emphasise that there was absolutely nothing homoerotic about this book, at all, whatsoever. No sir. Oh, Irish convent schools. show less
I first read this as part of my Leaving Cert syllabus, all the way back in 2002. I adored it and re-read it many times before the year was out; though, for some reason, the rest of the class didn't share my affection for it, and my teacher went to great pains to emphasise that there was absolutely nothing homoerotic about this book, at all, whatsoever. No sir. Oh, Irish convent schools. show less
Johnston always writes fluidly and elegantly, and I always find that her novels are very humane ones in the fullest sense of the word—books which take a wry, sardonic but not an unkind look at the best and worst of human emotion. Quite an Irish viewpoint, I think. Grace and Truth is a well-structured novella, and Johnston handles the juxtaposition between past and present with skill, though at times I thought that the parallels she constructed between Sally and the Bishop were a little too show more obvious. The climax of the novel is rather predictable, and I felt some doubts about the ending—it felt just slightly too pat. Would people really react like that? Hrm. Still, as a novel of everyday irony, this slim volume is worth the read. show less
Polly grows up in an Anglo-Irish family in the years following World War II. Her father died in the war. Her mother sends her off to spend school holidays with her grandparents at Kildarragh, a great house in the countryside, far away from Dublin.
I really like Anglo-Irish great house stories, and tales of family relationships, and this is a beautifully written example. Polly feels secure in the love of her grandparents and other family members who come and go. They are still mourning the show more loss of their son (her dad) and a daughter during the war, and Grandpa sometimes seems to think that she's his daughter Jassie returned.
Johnston builds up a portrait of family dynamics through lots of little incidents. The family loves to tell stories of the past and she has learned about those who died. However, I also felt Polly's sadness and discomfort as she discovers some painful truths from conversations between people who don't realise that their comments are heard. Kildarragh is a refuge for Polly but she isn't always sure that she belongs there.
I found the characters in this story very real and convincing, the living and the dead. One of the most interesting, and sometimes disturbing, is Polly's Uncle Sam, her dad's youngest brother, only 5 years older than Polly herself. At different points I found him attractive and irritating. He is sharply critical of his family for sending him off to school for a bourgeois education and runs away from home, and will not tell his parents where he has gone. While I liked his idealism, and was interested in his plans to go to Cuba to support the revolution, I thought his attitude to his parents was very selfish. I was uncomfortable, as I assume the author intended, with his attitude to Polly, burdening her with secrets but also with a rather incestuous and exploitative streak. This is never spelled out. It is possible to interpret Johnston's presentation of this story as failing to be critical of his incestuous overtures, but I preferred the ambiguity, the chance to read between the lines.
Shadowstory is an atmospheric, evocative novel with some strong, memorable characters. It is a novel for readers who like stories of thoughts and feelings rather than fast paced action, and I would recommend it to such readers.
I received a copy of this book to review for The Bookbag review website, where this review originally appeared.
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Shadowstory_by_Jennifer_John... show less
I really like Anglo-Irish great house stories, and tales of family relationships, and this is a beautifully written example. Polly feels secure in the love of her grandparents and other family members who come and go. They are still mourning the show more loss of their son (her dad) and a daughter during the war, and Grandpa sometimes seems to think that she's his daughter Jassie returned.
Johnston builds up a portrait of family dynamics through lots of little incidents. The family loves to tell stories of the past and she has learned about those who died. However, I also felt Polly's sadness and discomfort as she discovers some painful truths from conversations between people who don't realise that their comments are heard. Kildarragh is a refuge for Polly but she isn't always sure that she belongs there.
I found the characters in this story very real and convincing, the living and the dead. One of the most interesting, and sometimes disturbing, is Polly's Uncle Sam, her dad's youngest brother, only 5 years older than Polly herself. At different points I found him attractive and irritating. He is sharply critical of his family for sending him off to school for a bourgeois education and runs away from home, and will not tell his parents where he has gone. While I liked his idealism, and was interested in his plans to go to Cuba to support the revolution, I thought his attitude to his parents was very selfish. I was uncomfortable, as I assume the author intended, with his attitude to Polly, burdening her with secrets but also with a rather incestuous and exploitative streak. This is never spelled out. It is possible to interpret Johnston's presentation of this story as failing to be critical of his incestuous overtures, but I preferred the ambiguity, the chance to read between the lines.
Shadowstory is an atmospheric, evocative novel with some strong, memorable characters. It is a novel for readers who like stories of thoughts and feelings rather than fast paced action, and I would recommend it to such readers.
I received a copy of this book to review for The Bookbag review website, where this review originally appeared.
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Shadowstory_by_Jennifer_John... show less
This very short (+/-150 pages) but brilliant novel gives us two pictures: of Ireland shortly before and during WW I; and of life at the front, near Ypres, during the early stages of that war.
Alec and Jerry form that classic friendship of the upper-middle-class and the working-class boy. They enjoy themselves, horses, and the delights of a rural upbringing. In steps the heavy-handed Mother, the friendship is driven underground, and things go on.
Alec’s mother encourages him to enlist (her show more motives are murky). He doesn’t want to, and doesn’t have to, things in Ireland being a little troublesome. Alex goes out into the night, meets Jerry, discovers that he’s going to the war as well, and they proceed to get uproariously drunk.
Soon thereafter they’re at the front, in the same unit, but separated again by class. Their experiences, brief as they are, have profound effects on their lives.
Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Author Johnston manages to create a searing story of friendship, love, and politics all in one go. This is an amazing read; do please try it. I guarantee that you won’t regret it. show less
Alec and Jerry form that classic friendship of the upper-middle-class and the working-class boy. They enjoy themselves, horses, and the delights of a rural upbringing. In steps the heavy-handed Mother, the friendship is driven underground, and things go on.
Alec’s mother encourages him to enlist (her show more motives are murky). He doesn’t want to, and doesn’t have to, things in Ireland being a little troublesome. Alex goes out into the night, meets Jerry, discovers that he’s going to the war as well, and they proceed to get uproariously drunk.
Soon thereafter they’re at the front, in the same unit, but separated again by class. Their experiences, brief as they are, have profound effects on their lives.
Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Author Johnston manages to create a searing story of friendship, love, and politics all in one go. This is an amazing read; do please try it. I guarantee that you won’t regret it. show less
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