Last night, one of my classmates Liz invited us all for a pre-Chrismtas dinner at her house. She told us she lived by the seaside, in a lovely terrace home. Then she told us that she lived in James Joyce's old house! And what a house it was. Beautifully maintained with a perfect view of the Irish Sea and the green cliffs outside her balcony window. A roaring fire in the hearth - one of many in the home - upstairs in the sitting room. Champagne, Irish stew, plates full of desserts and lots of drink. It was a great evening and although it was bitterly cold, some of us who went along early still managed to get in a brisk walk along the shore - as James Joyce suggested to his character in one of his novels - good for the constitution you know! We sat down to a lovely dinner in the dining room described in Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and I felt very grown up indeed.
When we came back from our walk, Liz told us that she had just received a letter in the mail from a film studio. Apparently all next week famous Irish director and writer, Neil Jordan (The Crying Games, Interview with a Vampire etc.) will be filming scenes for his new film Byzantium in the home next door. I'm debating whether to come stalk Liz's house next week to catch a glimpse!
It was a wonderful evening and I have now decided that I want a house like this one. We were laughing that this would be the perfect house to write a first novel in - but maybe we'd need to write the first novel to afford a home like this to then write our second novel in! Seems more likely.
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