Nightwood

Nightwood, by Djuna Barnes, was first published in 1936. It tells the story of Robin Vote and the lives of those she becomes entangled with as she struggles with her desires and need for freedom. While set mostly in 1930s Paris, the novel is cosmopolitan in nature, with action also taking place in Vienna, Berlin, and various parts of America. This book is an example of modernist literature from the period between world wars and reflects this, with some characters referencing their experiences during World War One. A central thread of the novel is same-sex romance and women’s independence from traditional marriage, which are also indicative of the cultural changes occurring in this period.

Stylistically, a defining characteristic of this novel is its dense poetic language, so much so that when T.S. Eliot published it, he described it as a novel which only “sensibilities trained on poetry can wholly appreciate.”

The novel opens in a kind of flashback to 1880, as Baronin Hedvig Volkbein is giving birth to her son, Felix. She dies moments after, leaving him an orphan. Felix’s father, Guido Volkbein, who died six months prior of a fever, was a man who falsely presented himself as a baron.