beautifully written, tender and psychologically-complex story of family life . rather than focusing solely on Joyce's perspective, Frank McGuinness gives equal space in his novel to son Archie, wife Bertha and daughter Beatrice (named differently from Joyce's actual family) before plunging into James Joyce's point of view . No doubt, a lot of Joyce fans will enjoy this personal and poetic take on the lives of James Joyce and his family members. In particular, in James' section it delves into his notoriously luke-warm personal interactions with Proust. Joyce hilariously refers to Proust's magnum opus as "Cooking for Phantoms." . More than its depiction of the great writer, this is a novel which gracefully encompasses so much of what makes Irish literature mesmerising. "The Woodcutter and His Family" is suffused with a bewitchingly morbid sense of humour and voices which insist on being heard.