Recently, I saw (pictured above), a harrowing and deeply moving play, at the Barbican Centre, London. Set in the mid-20th century, it tells the story of Joy, a neurodivergent boy who lives on the Faroe Islands, part of Denmark. The islanders don’t accept him and he is sent to a barbaric psychiatric institution in Denmark. We follow him there until he returns to the Faroes as an adult and builds the eponymous “castle” to help him cope.
Sadly, the real Joy (PÓl JÓhannus Poulsen, also known as Lykken, “Joy” in English) went missing in 1971. His body was found five months later in the mountains. The castle burned down in 1978 – just one fragment of wood remains.
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In a lighter mode, I am enjoying , the second book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Claire, a 20th-century time traveller, and Jamie, her 18th-century Scottish Highlander husband, become embroiled in the Jacobite uprising. Pure whimsy, but wonderful.
Alexandra Thompson
Assistant news editor
London
