Moore
had a difficult relationship with his father. He believed
his father 'died thinking I was a wimp.' This perception of
failure echoes through many of Moore's novels. Failure interested
him more than success because he believed that 'success alters
people, while failure reveals them as they truly are.' Perhaps
this is what attracted him back to Northern Ireland during
the Troubles - he took the chance to examine a society that
had failed on so many levels, that was revealed for what it
was.
Moore once said that his first novel,
The Lonely Passion
of Judith Hearne, was a pilgrimage back to the people
he had known as a boy. The novel, which placed Belfast on
the literary map, was inspired by an elderly spinster who
had been a visitor to the Moore household. Moore's novels
usually focus on central female characters, but part of Moore's
success was because he was able to give an international slant
to his writing. His novels have been set in Montreal, New
York, Paris, London, California, Poland and Haiti.
With
each novel, Moore built his reputation as an internationally
acclaimed author. His novels
The Doctor's Wife,
Lies
of Silence and
The Colour of Blood all received
Booker Prize nominations. He was a prolific novelist - having
produced roughly one novel every two years - he would joke
about being slave to what he called the 'Ulster work ethic'.
Alfred Hitchcock read Brian's second novel,
The Feast
of Lupercal and immediately brought Moore from New York
to Hollywood to write the screen play for his film
The
Torn Curtain. This work brought Moore to California,
where he set up home in Malibu.
Introduction
