Ena Lucia Portela

A fictionalization of the relationship between Djuna Barnes and Daniel Mahoney in 1920s Paris. Having been sent an underlined copy of Nightwood, Daniel Mahoney discovers that Djuna Barnes used him as inspiration for her character Dr. Matthew O’Connor. Furious, Mahoney goes to confront her in her apartment. It’s not until the final chapter that Djuna opens the door to him and they have the conversation that reveals the reason for his indignation. In a beguiling 1920s Paris—the Paris of Duchamp, Hemingway, Joyce—and with stylistic nods to the latter, Portela portrays a time of sexual freedom and irreducible creativity on the cusp of the Second World War. More than straightforward historical fiction, this novel explores the limits between fiction and reality, between a person and their artistic persona. (LitHub)