The Heart's Invisible Furies: A Novel

by John Boyne

Named Book of the Month Club's Book of the Year, 2017
Selected one of New York Times Readers’ Favorite Books of 2017
Winner of the 2018 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award 

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Boy In the Striped Pajamas, a sweeping, heartfelt saga about the course of one man's life, beginning and ending in post-war Ireland

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery -- or at least, that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn't a real Avery, then who is he?

Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead. At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from - and over his many years, will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country, and much more.

In this, Boyne's most transcendent work to date, we are shown the story of Ireland from the 1940s to today through the eyes of one ordinary man. The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel to make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of the human spirit.

• ISBN10: 152476079X
• ISBN13: 9781524760793
• Publish Date: 6 March 2018 (first published 9 February 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Hogarth Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 592
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781524760793

Reviews

[Bianca]

And yet for all my happiness at seeing him happy and secure in who he was, there was something terribly painful about it too. What I would not have given to be that young at this time and to be able to experience such unashamed honesty.

Laugh-out-loud funny and quietly heartbreaking, a story about the life of one gay man from birth to old age as he grapples with his identity while struggling to live in a world full of bigotry. So witty while being so incredibly moving too. What a book! ❤️

[rohshey]

Leo Varadkar made history when he was elected as Ireland’s prime minister by bringing down a significant barrier as the country’s first openly gay prime minister. This is all the more astonishing when one remembers that until 1993, homosexuality was illegal, creating a culture of fear and repression for many Irish citizens. From this point of view, this book is very significant because it follows a boy, Cyril, who knows he is gay in a society that hates his sexuality and will take decades to unlearn a history of crippling guilt and shame.
But with all its good intent, the story felt clichéd and the tone was uneven, lurching from what felt like farce at times. I expected a broader sweep in Cyril's search for himself, but it was mostly about his life as a gay man in Ireland, the Netherlands, New York and back to Ireland again. Some Irish caricatures, probably there to keep the international readership happy. Some sermonising here and there, if I want that I'll listen to a panel discussion on the radio. Nicely written and pacy enough to get through quickly but It was trying to do too much and did not do anything wel