Truly the best of John Boyne - hilarious, touching and deeply sad The Heart's Invisible Furies is the breakout book Boyne was born to write.
Forced to flee the scandal brewing in her hometown, Catherine Goggin finds herself pregnant and alone, in search of a new life at just sixteen. She knows she has no choice but to believe that the nun she entrusts her child to will find him a better life.
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or so his parents are constantly reminding him. Adopted as a baby, he’s never quite felt at home with the family that treats him more as a curious pet than a son. But it is all he has ever known.
And so begins one man’s desperate search to find his place in the world. Unspooling and unseeing, Cyril is a misguided, heart-breaking, heartbroken fool. Buffeted by the harsh winds of circumstance towards the one thing that might save him from himself, but when opportunity knocks, will he have the courage, finally, take it?
Industry Reviews
Tender, dark, hilarious, heartbreaking-I loved it * Vogue *
It's been a long time since I read anything so compelling and satisfying. At times, incredibly funny, at others, heartrending
the most beautifully written and crafted novel ... heartbreaking * Santa Montefiore *
By turns savvy, witty and achingly sad . . . This is a novelist at the top of his game. * The Mail on Sunday *
I ran through the whole range of human emotions while reading this brilliant novel. It's a masterpiece. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love
Screamingly funny one minute and heartbreaking the next. * Daily Express *
A special read * BBC Radio 4 Front Row *
Boyne creates lightness out of doom, humour out of desperately sad situations, creating a compelling page-turner... a terrific read. * The Press Association *
An epic novel.... Worthy of the great master of the Irish comic novel, Flann O'Brien. The Heart's Invisible Furies proves that John is not just one of Ireland's best living novelists but also one of the best novelists of Ireland. * Sunday Express *
Written with verve, humour and heart...at its core, The Heart's Invisible Furies aspires to be not just the tale of Cyril Avery, a man buffeted by coincidence and circumstance, but the story of Ireland itself * Irish Times *
