Hello lovely readers! This month I wanted to focus on a book that really was so epic in its content and depiction that I would be remiss not to make it my BOTM for the month of April. That book is The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne.
Read on below for a full review and plot breakdown, and as always, please use the affiliate link for purchase.
"Long before we discovered that he had fathered two children by two different women, one in Drimoleague and one in Clonakilty, Father James Monroe stood on the altar of the Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in the parish of Goleen, west Cork, and denounced my mother as a whore."
I don't think I've ever read a more powerful first line to a book in my lifetime. I mean...wow. As my grandpa would say, 'that packs a powerful punch'. But if I am being honest, John Boyne's writing does not relent for one millisecond of this book. The powerful human spirit of our main character, the powerful writing and prose, the powerful visuals constantly presented throughout this sweeping story - it is all there.
Our story revolves around Cyril Avery. Cyril is a son born to a woman who was cast out of her small Irish village after her priest discovers she is with child out of wedlock. He is adopted into the Avery family, and from here is where we start Cyril's lifelong journey to discover who he is, why he is the way he is, and all of his emotions and turmoil in-between finding that out. This book begins while Cyril is still a fetus within his mother and ends when he an old, old man and is close to his death. This synopsis of the plot is almost impossible to write because this book is hefty - both in context and in emotion. However, I will leave it brief because I think the beauty in this book is discovering it for yourself.
I would definitely categorize this book as a coming of age story, but is much more than that as well considering the deeply moving and extremely difficult subject matter. There is violence (and a lot of it), homophobia, racism, sexism, pedophilia, murder. But in equal measure, this book has love (and a lot of it), friendship, family and all their complex dynamics, what it means to be a man, what it means to be a man in Ireland, what it means to be a man in love.
"Maybe there were no villains in my mother’s story at all. Just men and women, trying to do their best by each other. And failing."
I found this quote to really just stick with me even after I put this book down because the simplicity of it really rings true. Sometimes life is just as simple as people trying to do their best and failing. Although this story has every walk of life within it, most people are just trying to do their best by each other in it.
I would rate this book as five stars for me! It is definitely a character driven book so if you enjoy those, I cannot recommend this specific book enough. If you are looking for a unique, sweeping timeline of a book to add to your reading line-up, I would also highly recommend this one. It is over 600 pages so be prepared to get invested, although it is not a hard thing to do with a book as well written as this one.
If you would like to purchase the book listed above, please use our Amazon affiliate link below here:
The Heart's Invisible Furies - https://amzn.to/3mFxm77
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