Nora Webster

Nora Webster is the eponymous main character of the novel “Nora Webster” by Colm Toibin. Nora is a woman in her forties, is the recent widow of Maurice Webster, and is the mother of four children – Fiona, Aine, Donal, and Conor. Nora is reeling from the death of Maurice, but she puts on a brave face for her children, the rest of her family, and the town of Wexford. Nora’s Aunt Josie, sisters Catherine and Una, sister-in-law Margaret, and brother-in-law Jim are very worried about Nora, and tell her that she needs to move on. Nora, however, cannot do this.

Nora experiences tremendous difficulty moving on from her husband’s death for two primary reasons. First, her husband died slowly and agonizingly, and the experience has seared itself into Nora’s mind. Her horror at seeing the love of her life in such pain is crushing...