''Judith Hearne'' (later republished as ''The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne''), was regarded by

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

-Canadian writer Brian Moore as his first novel. The book was published in 1955 after Moore had left Ireland and was living in Canada. It was rejected by 10 American publishers, then was accepted by a British publisher.

Diana Athill Diana Athill (21 December 1917 – 23 January 2019) was a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the greatest writers of the 20th century at the London-based publishing company Andre Deutsch Ltd. Early life ...

's memoir ''Stet'' (2000) has information about the publishing of ''Judith Hearne''. Set in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

in the 1950s, ''Judith Hearne'' has been described as "a sensitive study of a middle-aged alcoholic woman in drab Belfast and her desperate last attempts at finding love and companionship". Ann Leary, reviewing the book for

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, calls it "a short book about a lifetime of longing" and says "Moore uses brilliant economy in his writing; it's as if words are as scarce and precious as sunshine in this gloomy section of postwar Belfast". According to

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

, the book "is full of Joycean moments... it takes from ‘Clay’, the most mysterious story in Dubliners, the idea of a single, middle-aged woman visiting a family and finding both comfort and humiliation there". Robert Fulford, writing in Canada's ''The Globe and Mail'', describes it as "a bleak post-Catholic novel" that depicts "a desolate life, stripped of warming humanity". Moore won the Authors' Club First Novel Award and the

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award for this work, although it was not his first novel. A film based on the book, but with the story relocated to Dublin, was released in 1987 with Maggie Smith in the title role. The book was republished by

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, under the title ''The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne'', on 16 July 2007 in the

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Modern Classics series (; ).

Critical reception

In November 2019, BBC Arts included ''Judith Hearne'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels. Commenting in the '' Belfast Telegraph'', writer Carlo Gébler stated: " e author communicates her specificity (she is a lonely, damaged, needy, alcoholic, Catholic middle-aged woman who yearns for love) with enormous tenderness and precision." His technique, he added: "combines third person omniscient narrative with first person stream of consciousness material: by combining the two (and he does this deftly) Moore...tells his story and he allows us unfettered access to the private interior world of the people he is writing about."

References

1955 British novels 1955 Canadian novels 1955 debut novels André Deutsch books British television composers Canadian novels adapted into films Irish novels adapted into films New Canadian Library Novels by Brian Moore (novelist) Novels set in Belfast {{Canada-novel-stub