The Master

Written by Colm Tóibín

Narrated by William Hope

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Master by Colm Toibin, read by William Hope.

In January 1895 Henry James anticipates the opening of his first play, Guy Domville, in London. The production fails, and he returns, chastened and humiliated, to his writing desk. The result is a string of masterpieces, but they are produced at a high personal cost.


In The Master Colm Tóibín captures the exquisite anguish of a man who circulated in the grand parlours and palazzos of Europe, who was astonishingly vibrant and alive in his art, and yet whose attempts at intimacy inevitably failed him and those he tried to love. It is a powerful account of the hazards of putting the life of the mind before affairs of the heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin UK Audio
• Release date: Oct 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9780241971222

Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín was born in Ireland in 1955. He is the author of eleven novels, including The Master, Brooklyn, and The Magician, and two collections of stories. He has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. Tóibín was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024.

Reviews for The Master

[eoin-311239 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Precise, polished, and perfectly understated. It is probably stunningly researched and full of clever inside jokes, too, but the prose is clean and pure. Not everyone's cup of tea.

[m.belljackson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Even for those readers for whom Henry James is definitely not The Master, the insights into his personality, passive behavior, and precise, calculating expression of emotionsilluminate the often solitary life of a writer. The pace of the book veers into belabored, considering, as James does in his books, almost every possible angle of considerationof many boring rich people's concerns.Death pervades much of the mood and readers will likely wish that he had stayed with the beloved dying cousin who loved him above all others rather than taking off on a pleasuretrip to Rome, consoling her with tales of all the fun he was having. As well, it would have been welcome if the very well off James family had not made this young girl feel "penniless"and without prospects, hastening her illness.I sloughed through because this was the book I had chosen to fulfill the Irish Author Challenge and was near catatonic until William James came to Rye and spoke his mind!Henry James wrote some great travelogue descriptions, but his novels can be wrenching, stilted with repression of feelings and actions.

[michalsuz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A superb book.

[donnamariemerritt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful imagining of the inner life and social life of Henry James

[stef7sa-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful novel written in a magnificent style, highly recommended even if you haven't read anything of Henry James (neither have I).

[hansel714_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm a fan of Toibin but I fear this is not his best work. It seems an idiosyncratic of specialization that only the author and few people are interested in. There is nothing new or inventive about the novel, just a suturing of parts.

[lucybrown_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The fictionalized biography can be a vexing thing! Often focusing on the scandalous or the trivial, sadly out of tune with its inspiration. This fictionalized account of James' life, or a part of it, is lovingly in tune and seems an even better mirror of him than the straight biographies which never seem to capture the subtleties of this most subtle of men and minds. I am in awe of the way Toibin has not only captured the man but also his time. He has a rare sensibility and understanding of the nature of this deeply conflicted author.
One of the things that most caught my attention is Toibin's awareness of James' almost peculiar anxiety for the care and tending of children. It has always struck me as odd that a man who was himself childless, did not spend much time in the company of children, and indeed, seemed to never have ever been a child himself and, finally, even as a child did not have much association with children should take such a deep and anxious interest in children. In the novel, he is keenly interested and saddened by the situation of Oscar Wilde's young sons and concerned for the well-being of a young girl named Mona who is, or it seems to his mind, being unconsciously, or maybe even actually abused by the guests at a house party in Ireland. He is concerned that the child is not properly chaperoned and that she is made much of at an adults' ball and is vaguely sexualized. So often children in James' books suffer from indifferent care or are used in a most calculated way of exacting revenge. From a callow reading of his work one might think that he is using them only as the ultimate examples to highlight is theme of innocence versus corruption. However, readers of What Maise Knew can be only but painfully aware of James' deep concern and anxiety for children. Interestingly the question of the child Mona, which was highly suggestive of the adults at least unwittingly sexualizing the girl, if not actually abusing her, was never returned to. It lingered in my mind exactly what the author was trying to get at. As the tireless efforts Josephine Butler uncovered, child prostitution and the shunting of these children from one wealthy household to another was hardly a secret and seems to have been a vice endemic of the European aristocracy. I still wonder if this is what Toibin was suggesting. James is certainly unsettled by the girl and her presence at a gathering which is all adults, excepting her. In true Jamesian fashion it is left a mystery.

For the most part I find The Master a masterful portrait of a complex man, a man who had a genius for subtlety and observation. Toibin captures James as well as any biography ever has, and he has done so much in the manner of James, to wit, the Mona episode.

[donna828 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This well-researched but still speculative contemplation of the life and writings of Henry James was fascinating to me. Toibin meticulously painted a portrait of a reflective man who relished his undisturbed life. The author integrated the influences of life on art showing how James incorporated his astute observations in his creative process. The Master was an excellent character study utilizing flashbacks and bittersweet vignettes to reveal the inner life of a conflicted author.This is a book to be real slowly and savored. Highly recommended to lovers of literature.

[stephenmurphy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Deliciously detailed and slow this is almost more biography than novel. As baroque and subtle as James but perhaps more honest.

[diefledermaus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Jamesian novel about Henry James - what could be better? Toibin does an excellent job recreating the tragic past and tightly controlled feelings of the author. He opens in 1895, with James' youthful successes behind him and his more challenging later novels ahead. Having read many of his books, I recognized the influences that Toibin subtly or overtly mentioned, but a knowledge of James is not necessary to enjoy the author's masterful prose and characterizations. At the time, James was working on his play, Guy Domville, which turned out to be a spectacular failure. Throughout the novel, Henry is always haunted by memories - of his dead parents and sister, a lost opportunity with his friend Paul. Eventually, the recollection of his humiliation on stage joined those as something that had to be controlled and kept away.Toibin writes about James' sister Alice. Fiercely intelligent and individualistic, she also had a bevy of illnesses and problems, finally dying young. She was always a little different. She found a close friend in Miss Loring and they develop a relationship similar to the one depicted in James' novel The Bostonians. Alice also served as inspiration for Henry's novel The Princess Casamassima.The Wilde trial captivated James, as it did everyone else. His fears over homosexuality lead him to remember a night in the same bed with Oliver Wendell Holmes, which in turn brings back memories of when the pair spent much time with James' cousin Minny Temple. Minny had provided material for some of Henry's writings and her death hit him hard - more so when Holmes later accused him of contributing to her death. She'd wanted Henry to take her to Italy, but he remained oblivious to her hints. The obvious inspiration for Milly Theale, the heroine of The Wings of the Dove, when she'd turned to the wall upon learning he had abandoned her.His emotional avoidance is shown even in his younger years, when he remained only an observer as his brothers went off to fight in the Civil War. In the present, he has to repress the discomfort he feels around his servants, the Smiths, whose shoddy service becomes increasingly worse. James' parallel memories are of the discomfort he feels in his relationship with his friend, Constance Fenimore Woolson. He couldn't tolerate the idea of his family believing there was a romantic relationship there or her being too close. His desertion this time wasn't youthful carelessness, as in Minny's case, but his deep-seated neuroticism and emotional avoidance. He can't easily disperse the oblique accusations and his own guilt towards her.Almost all of James' relationships lead to nothing, intentionally so. Toibin creates a realistic portrait of an artist who reluctantly accepts his painful, solitary life because he can never stay in society for long either. He feels every sting - from a sly insult at his Irish background to multiple deaths - acutely, so he diligently works to avoid the situations. One scene had Henry's niece reading Portrait of a Lady and upset at the ending - she got to ask him why he wrote what he did. That would be sweet!

[emanate28 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the subtle tone of the whole book. It made Henry James & the way his mind works so interesting, and compelled me to read another of James's novels.

[rayette_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was impressed by this fictional bio of Henry James. Very subtle, very quiet, and well-executed. I really liked how we wove in various people and incidents that inspired James' work.

[southpaw_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed reading this, although as a newcomer to Henry James and his life, I had to approach this as a work concerning a fictional character to avoid feeling left behind. The tone and style of Toibin's writing is impressive and understated.

[wisecat_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This fictionalized biography of Henry James was disappointing & dull. It dealt too much with really depressing facets of his internal life.

[bobbieharv · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fictionalized biography of Henry James, written I think in the HJ style. It's like James' life made into one of his novels. Lovely calm ruminative soothing writing; made me want to reread Portrait of a Lady.

[shihtzu_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written fictional account of the life of Henry James. One of the best books I've read in the past few years.

[porch_reader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A complex man is portrayed in a complex narrative. Toibin takes us inside the mind of Henry James. Through flashbacks, we grow to understand how Henry James's childhood in America, his experiences during the Civil War, and his family relationships shaped his life and led him to live in England and write some of the most influential novels of the era. Some of my favorite passages were the ones that shed light on James's writing process and helped us understand the multiple influences on a novelist. This is incredibly well-written. I wish I had read it at a calmer time. I felt like it deserved even more attention.

[matsar_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful book, especially for people who are as fascinated with Henry James the man as much as they are his stories. A touching novel about this complex, lonely and brilliant man.

[schmerguls · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I admit that I found this book easy to read, and that it held my interest. It is I take it biographically correct, and adds much to the 'record' by telling Henry James' thoughts and feelings. It starts in Januaary 1895, as James effort to be a playwright is failing, and concludes in October 1899, but there are many flashbacks and one gets a pretty full account of much of James' life from birth up to 1899--though of course disjointed, and flashbacky. But after reading the book I felt it really did not tell much and I was disappoinrted that the book did not proceed to tell of James' life after 1899..Stylistically, one is reminded of James' own writing, . But it is all rather 'precious' and makes a big deal of James' latent (usually, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., excepted) homosexuality. On balance, I found the book disappointing, considering how much it was hyped when it came out.

[wandering_star_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautifully written book - the sentences roll over you as you are reading them. And it's a sensitive examination of the way that James' life was echoed in his work, and the way his desire to observe, and write, led to a certain disengagement from the world - and made him let down the people who loved him. However, it seemed a little repetitive - the same events recur, with different protagonists. Perhaps this is meant to be cyclical - but James' approach doesn't really change, despite his guilt or shame about the events that have gone before. I agree with the comments of one of the reviewers below, that it ended up reading like an exercise in style rather than anything with real feeling.

[edwinrelf_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is such an enjoyable read. Toibin inhabits Henry James, the novelist, during a period towards the latter part of his life when he moves to Rye on the south coast of England. Toibin borrows from the style of Henry James and, if I may say so, is better at writing in Henry James's style that James, The Master himself.The novel reflectsback on aspects of James's life and coyness on his sexuality and weaves through the ispiration of some of his writing and the possible real relations he had with people who inhabit James's novels.It's a curious thing that the house James moved to in Rye, Lamb House, was also the home much later of E F Benson, another gay man whose novels of Mapp and Lucia are such a gay romp

[dbsovereign · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun if frustrating because in a way it represents so much that is repressed [in all of us]. Also about sublimation. Venice.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Master is the fictionalized biography of author Henry James. James was born of a wealthy Boston family, but lived much of his life in Europe. Throughout this book, James struggles in his relationships with both family and friends. He never completely loses his aloof standoffish behavior as well as the book hints of a struggle accepting or exploring his sexuality.

I have to say that I really struggled with this book. As I read over other people's reviews and I kept thinking - Is that the same book? Maybe it is because I've only read 1 short story by Henry James - The Turn of the Screw. As the novel covered how James came up with his ideas for the characters and plot of this ghost story, I did find that interesting. But I kept on hoping for a breakthrough in his own personal life. Either by developing a long lasting friendship, or at least acceptance/contentment with his life. Maybe my dissatisfaction was due to the audio production - the narrator, Ralph Cosham was flat and morose (which seemed to match James' life...). Not a great listen for me.

[lizchris_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a fan of Colm Toibin but not of Henry James, I found this quite hard work. The novel imagines Henry James as the central character in one of his own novels. Neither a biography nor fiction, I found his mostly-repressed yearning for intimacy and love the strongest part of the novel.

[chrisconway_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am not a Henry James fan and little happens in this novel. And yet I found it wonderful and hard to put down. Toibin creates a distinctive voice, and a powerful and very relatable sense of melancholy. This novel made me think a lot about loneliness, and family bonds, and selfishness, and fear, and how all of this seeming contradictory stuff, actually blends together. You don't need to have read James or admire him to appreciate this distinctive piece of fiction.

[snash_44 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A meticulous exploration of a sensitive but very guarded person, only able to deal with his feeling (and then not all of them) by writing fictional accounts. The fact that the subject, Henry James, and his family are well known real people added to the enjoyment.

[laurierking · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you're going to write a fictionalized biography, why not make the subject Henry James rather than that Frey fellow?

[sblock_16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this after finishing The Portrait of A Lady, and in addition to being a great read, it helped me understand that novel.

[drfuriosa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting and engaging glimpse into Henry James's highly interior personal life and writing process. If you like historical fiction about authors or Jamesian style, you'll lke this.

[michael_lilly-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Tedious and speculative fiction supposedly about Henry James. Some obvious inaccuracies.. For example reading this book, one would conclude that James was a commercial failure as a play-write. But in fact a number of his plays were commercially successful. The author apparently needed something to humiliate James and his work as a play-write was handy because his plays are not popular now, and they are not up to the standard of his novels, stories, and essays.