The Lesser Bohemians

Book excerpt: A story of first love and redemption, from the author of the multi-award-winning A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing. An eighteen-year-old girl, recently arrived in London from Ireland, is enrolled in drama school. Innocent, nervous, the youngest in her class, she is eager to make an impression, to do well. She meets a man—older, a well-regarded actor in his own right—and falls for him. But he’s haunted by more than a few demons—and their tumultuous relationship might be the undoing of them both. Set across the bedsits and squats of mid-nineties north London, The Lesser Bohemians is a story of love and innocence, joy and discovery, the grip of the past and the struggle to be new again. Eimear McBride was born in Liverpool but moved to Ireland when she was three. She grew up in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo and Castlebar, Co. Mayo, before moving to London aged seventeen to study at The Drama Centre. Her first novel, A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, won many literary awards including the 2014 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2014 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her most recent book is The Lesser Bohemians. Eimear lives in Norwich with her family. ‘It’s a mark of McBride’s magic—her genius if you like—that she trusts that readers are perfectly able to knit a coherent sensibility out the non–linearity of thought.’ Adelaide Review ‘A dazzling, affecting and stimulating read. We can imagine it as Samuel Beckett fused with Henry Miller. Far better, though, to appreciate it for what it really is: the work of one of the most exciting voices in fiction today.’ Australian ‘McBride writes in a stream of consciousness style that’s as accessible as it is startling. It can make the world new at the same time as evoking its timeless fundamentals.’ Independent ‘Without ever passing judgment, The Lesser Bohemians situates itself at that point of moral, sexual and grammatical uncertainty where, in Eily’s words again, "pure is indivisible from its reverse". For me it is the ability to delve so deeply into all of this, more or less regardless, that makes for the unique talent—the wilful, sensuous generosity—of Eimear McBride.’ Jacqueline Rose, London Review of Books ‘The Lesser Bohemians confirms McBride’s status as one of our major novelists. She writes with beauty, wisdom and humour and she is uniquely sensitive to what is being communicated with every look or jerk of the body.’ Guardian ‘[A] magnificent, sex-soused, innocence-to-experience rollercoaster...Having put both her characters’ and readers’ hearts through the wringer, the sweetness that McBride ultimately grants feels earned.’ Daily Mail ‘McBride is one of the most exciting literary talents to emerge in the last few years.’ Financial Times ‘McBride is always brilliant on her central theme—the paradox that it is shame that makes us behave shamefully.’ Irish Times ‘If you rush McBride’s sentences, you’ll trip...The rewards for adopting a slower pace are linguistic joys and surprises on every page...this extraordinary novel deserves all the success of McBride’s first.’ New Statesman ‘[The Lesser Bohemians] immerses the reader in a headlong, broken-up narrative on love, sex, betrayal and intimacy.’ Best Books of 2016, New Zealand Listener ‘An urgent, semi-Dostoevskian story of brokenness, sexual awakening, perversion, and (partial) redemption, written in a lively, Joycean style.’ Shannon Burns, Australian Book Review, 2016 Books of the Year ‘The standout novel of the year...It's been said that McBride comes trailing James Joyce behind her, but with this second novel she's leaving him in her wake. Triumphant and disturbing.’ Drussilla Modjeska, The Books We Loved 2016, Sydney Morning Herald ‘I am so glad that urgency pushed them [The Lesser Bohemians and A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing] up the to-read list. Both deal with a girl trying to construct herself and the world around her, and in both it’s a fairly messy process. Start these on a hot night when you have nowhere to be in the morning and proceed with getting drunk on the language.’ 2016 Staff Picks, Kill Your Darlings ‘Compared with the first, The Lesser Bohemians is more accessible, perhaps, certainly more unsettling, but undoubtedly further confirmation of a major talent.’ Ashleigh Wilson, Best Books of 2016, Australian ‘Urgent, semi-Dostoesvskian story of brokenness, sexual awakening, perversion, and (partial) redemption, written in a lively, Joycean style. McBride’s uncompromising first novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing set the bar formidably high, but The Lesser Bohemians doesn’t disappoint.’ Shannon Burns, Best Books of 2016, Australian Book Review ‘Step inside the head of Eily, an 18-year-old who moves to London to start drama school, begins “worldening” (the process of becoming more worldy)—and starts an affair with Stephen, a charismatic womanizer of 38. The book’s laser focus on their relationship, with its many (but never gratuitous) sex scenes, captures the relationship’s intensity and uncertainty, and the way love can change you...If you enjoy novels that push the boundaries and get your swept up, this one’s for you.’ North and South