Brian Moore’s second novel, The Feast of Lupercal, mines similar territory to his first, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. Here, too, an inexperienced, unloved protagonist, Diarmuid Devine, believes he may have found a candidate for marriage; in this case, the niece, Una, of a colleague at the boys’ school where he teaches. His thoughts of marriage originate in an overheard conversation in the toilets where Devine finds himself described as “that old woman” by a younger teacher:
“How can you expect the likes of Dev to understand what a fellow feels about a girl?”
This moment of self-doubt coincides with his friend and colleague, Tim Heron’s, daughter’s engagement party, and the arrival of his niece, Una, from Dublin. When they meet at the party he might, at any other time, have thought little of it but “he had promised himself he’d get out of the rut and now he’d met a girl.” The next day Devine, stage manager at the local amateur dramatic society, is asked by Father McSwiney about a performance of Mulligan’s Will to raise funds. Though Devine is reluctant, he realises that Una’s claim, “I’ve always been keen on the stage,” opens up an opportunity for him as the actress who had previously played the lead female part is unavailable and he offers to rehearse with Una in preparation for an audition. Moore is excellent in describing the change in his character as their relationship develops:
“…he was filled with an outrageous joy. He smiled into the shocked faces of strangers, walked across Donegall Street against a red light and stopped to kick an apple core into the formal flowerbeds of City Hall.”
The novel also cleverly balances the possibility that Una likes Devine, despite being much younger, with the more cynical suspicion that she is using him. Alongside the fact she is Protestant, Devine has also been told that she is in Belfast as she “was mixed up with a married man”. On the one hand, this adds a suggestion she is sexually available, but on the other it could prove scandalous for a Catholic schoolteacher. The religious dimension is important not only because Devine is expected to be morally exemplary in his life or risk losing his job, but because his own religious principles prevent him from taking advantage of Una. When they are rehearsing and an opportunity arises for him to kiss her as scripted:
“Dammit, he couldn’t. It might not be acting any more, it might be something else entirely.”
Una, too, must guard her own reputation, which has already been tarnished, and her uncle is duty bound to ensure there is no hint of further scandal. This explains Heron’s anger when he hears that Devine has taken Una out for a meal. When Heron confronts Devine, however, Devine plays down any relationship with Una:
“She’d rehearsed so hard all week, I thought she needed a little treat.”
This will be the first, but not the last, occasion, when Devine will ‘deny’ Una to save himself: “he felt as though he had committed sacrilege. How could he face Una, after letting her down?” As the novel progresses it becomes less about their relationship and more about whether Devine can find the courage to be himself whatever the cost – not only his job but his lodgings (as with Judith Hearne) being under threat.
Both The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne and The Feast of Lupercal are about characters who find themselves lost and lonely in middle-age. Both aspire to be good Catholics but find their religion is not enough to sustain them. Both are seen by others as rather dull, leading routine, unexciting lives. Moore reveals the passions that lie untapped beneath the surface, suppressed by both Catholicism and hopelessness, giving the reader glimpses of neglected possibilities, while never forgetting we are bound by the societies we live in. Moore’s vision is both hopeful in recognising that his characters can still be stirred to action, but pessimistic in suggesting that society will reject any attempt at change, a pessimism reflected in the novel’s final image:
“The horse, harnessed, dumb, lowered its head once more.”
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