The Heart's Invisible Furies: 'A bold, funny epic.' Observer

by John Boyne

Stephen Hogan (Narrator)

'Compelling and satisfying... At times, incredibly funny, at others, heartrending' Sarah Winman, author of When God Was a Rabbit

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 three score years and ten, 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.
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Readers love the next book by John Boyne, A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom, out 23 July 2020

***** ‘Very unique, very well written and crafted … a journey you will never forget.’
***** ‘It’s structure is like nothing I have seen before … the rewards on reading it are immense.’
***** ‘An extraordinary book…beautifully and intelligently written, timeless and insightful.’
***** ‘This is an imaginative tour de force.’
***** ‘Ambitious and breathtakingly evocative … takes your breath away.’
***** ‘A masterpiece... I can’t praise this book enough; had me gripped from the first page. Sublime!’

• ISBN10: 1473543533
• ISBN13: 9781473543539
• Publish Date: 9 February 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
• Imprint: Transworld Digital
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (WAV)
• Duration: 21 hours and 21 minutes
• Language: English

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