Joyce Cary facts for kids

A 1950s photo of Joyce Cary, an Anglo-Irish writer.

Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary (born December 7, 1888 – died March 29, 1957) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and a government official in the colonies.

Early Life and Education

Joyce Cary was born in 1888 in Derry, Ireland. His family had owned land in Ulster since the 1600s. However, they lost most of their property after a law called the Irish Land Act was passed in 1882. Because of this, many of his family members moved away. Some of his uncles joined the US Cavalry and the Canadian North-West Mounted Police. Most of his family ended up in Great Britain.

Joyce Cary's father, Arthur Cary, became an engineer. He married Charlotte Joyce in 1887, and they lived in London. Sadly, Joyce's mother passed away in 1898 when he was ten years old.

During his childhood, Cary spent many summers in Ireland at his grandmother's house. He also stayed at Cromwell House in England, which was a gathering place for his family. He wrote about these times in his books A House of Children (1941) and Castle Corner (1938). Even though he loved his childhood memories in Ireland, he lived in England for the rest of his life.

Cary often felt like things could change suddenly, and this idea influenced his writing. He was not very healthy as a child. He had asthma, which continued throughout his life. He was also nearly blind in one eye and wore a special lens called a monocle when he was older. Cary went to Clifton College in Bristol, England. When his mother died, she left him some money, which helped him financially for many years.

In 1906, Cary wanted to be an artist and went to Paris. He later studied art in Edinburgh. But he soon realized he would not be a great painter. So, he decided to become a writer instead. He published a book of poems, which he later said was "pretty bad." After that, he went to Trinity College, Oxford. He didn't focus much on his studies and graduated with a low grade.

Time in Nigeria and Early Books

In 1912, seeking adventure, Cary went to Kingdom of Montenegro. He worked for the Red Cross during the Balkan Wars. He wrote about his experiences there in a book called Memoir of the Bobotes (1964), which was published after he died.

When he returned to Britain, Cary joined the Nigerian political service in 1913. This meant he worked for the British government in Nigeria. During World War I, he served with a Nigerian army group fighting in the German colony of Kamerun. He wrote a short story called "Umaru" (1921) about a British officer who sees the shared humanity with his African sergeant.

Cary was injured in 1916. He went back to England and married Gertrude Ogilvie. Three months later, he returned to Nigeria as a colonial officer, leaving Gertrude, who was expecting their first child, in England. Cary worked in different roles in Nigeria, including as a judge. At first, he tried to bring strict order to the local people. But over time, he began to see Nigerians as individuals with difficult lives.

By 1920, Cary was focused on providing clean water and building roads to connect villages. After a second visit home, Gertrude was expecting their second child. She asked him to leave his job in Nigeria so they could live together in Britain. Cary thought it was impossible financially. However, in 1920, he found a literary agent. Some of the stories he wrote in Africa were sold to an American magazine, The Saturday Evening Post. These stories were published under the name Thomas Joyce. This success gave Cary enough reason to leave his job in Nigeria. He and Gertrude moved to Oxford, England, where they raised their four sons.

Becoming a Novelist in the 1930s

Cary worked hard to become a better writer. But his early success didn't last, as the magazine decided his stories were too "literary." He wrote several novels and a play, but none of them sold. The family struggled financially and even had to rent out their house at one point.

Finally, in 1932, Cary published Aissa Saved, a novel based on his experiences in Nigeria. It wasn't a huge success, but it sold more than his next book, An American Visitor (1933). The African Witch (1936) did a little better, and the Cary family was able to move back into their home.

Even though his first three novels weren't very successful, they showed his growing skill as a writer. Cary realized he needed new ways to tell his stories. George Orwell suggested Cary to the Liberal Book Club, which asked him to write about freedom. This book, Power in Men (1939), was cut by the publisher without Cary's permission, which made him very unhappy.

Cary then thought about writing three novels based on his Irish background. Castle Corner (1938) didn't do well, so he stopped that idea. After this, he wrote one more African novel, Mister Johnson (1939), which was written entirely in the present tense. Today, it is considered one of his best novels, but it didn't sell well at the time. However, Charley Is My Darling (1940), about young people displaced by World War II, found more readers. His memoir A House of Children (1941) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for best novel.

Later Years and Legacy

Cary then began writing his most important works, which looked at how England changed during his lifetime. His First Trilogy of novels (Herself Surprised - 1941, To Be a Pilgrim - 1942, and The Horse's Mouth - 1944) finally brought him good income. The Horse's Mouth is still his most popular novel.

In 1943, while writing The Horse's Mouth, Cary traveled to Africa with a film crew to work on a movie called Men of Two Worlds. He also went to India in 1946 for another film project, but it was canceled due to the fight for independence from the British.

The Moonlight (1946), a novel about challenges faced by women, marked the end of a very creative period for Cary. His wife, Gertrude, was suffering from cancer, and his writing slowed down. Gertrude passed away as his novel A Fearful Joy (1949) was being published. At this time, Cary was very famous and successful.

He visited the United States and worked on a play version of Mister Johnson. He was offered an award, the CBE, but he politely declined it. He continued to work on his Second Trilogy of novels (Prisoner of Grace - 1952, Except the Lord - 1953, and Not Honour More - 1955).

In 1952, Cary started having muscle problems. After two years, doctors realized he had motor neuron disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. This disease causes muscles to weaken and leads to gradual paralysis. As his body failed, Cary had to have a pen tied to his hand to write. Eventually, he could only dictate his words. Finally, he could no longer speak and stopped writing for the first time since 1912. His last book, The Captive and the Free (1959), was unfinished when he died on March 29, 1957, at the age of 68.

A blue plaque in Derry, Ireland, marking Joyce Cary's birthplace.

Cary chose his close friend, Winnie Davin, to manage his literary works after his death. She made sure his books and papers were given to the Bodleian Library. She also helped publish some of his unfinished works and supported scholars who studied his writings. She also wrote his entry for the Dictionary of National Biography.

Selected Works

See also

In Spanish: Joyce Cary para niños

• List of Irish writers