Leila: Further in the Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman

by J.P. Donleavy

Book Overview

This sequel to The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman finds Darcy desperately departing Dublin as a pauper. But once home amid the leaking, bat-infested halls of Andromeda Park and his eccentric family and retainers, Darcy meets the servant Leila, who becomes the one bright star in his eternal darkness.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385292600
• ISBN13: 9780385292603
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Tragic Love amongst the Flat Broke Upper? Class

If you don't already know Balthazar B., Bella Hortense, Beefy, and Elizabeth Fitzdare from other J. P. Donleavy books (whom I was appropriately introduced to while in college many years ago), Leila is probably not the place to start as Donleavy's remarkable and infinitely romantic / emotive writing style and the depth of protagonist Darcy's tragedy is simply too much at one time. However, if you've already read at least one of the others, then Leila is one that you don't want to complete your life without having read. A remarkable story of totally unrequited love, or at least a completely unfilled but potentially deep platonic relationship, set in the context of heartbreaking corruption, physical decay, and financial dissipation amidst (pointless under the circumstances) old world upstairs / downstairs formality and manners. A great! book, I can see re-reading it about every ten years from a different life perspective ...

Not as good as the original but read it anyway.

A really good book, but almost too tragic. It still contains typical Donleavy wit, great characters, and the usual Irish, drunken, sexy fun, but this time the tragic love story brings the book down and makes it a bit too depressing.