Named Book of the Month Club’s Book of the Year, 2017Selected one of New York Times Readers’ Favorite Books of 2017Winner 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 IrelandCyril Avery is not a real Avery — or at … 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.
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It was the most engaging novel I’ve read in years. Witty throughout, with laugh-out-loud moments. Like life, though, there is also heartbreak. The hero, Cyril, will stay in your mind, and in your heart, for a very long time. I’ve recommended this book to several people, all of whom loved it.
I loved this book from beginning to end! I couldn’t stop reading. I am reading it again and am discovering details I missed the first time. The author does a marvelous job telling Ceril’s story with so many wonderful supporting characters. Cannot say enough good things about this book! A must read for everyone!
Loved this book…did not expect to, but glad I read it….some great humor
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne is such an amazing book and I didn’t want it to end. We follow our character Cyril through various times of his life, starting when he is age 7 and ending when he is age 77. The book is broken up into parts, plus chapters within those parts. Another nice touch is that every so often the book would jump in 7 year increments. I loved this style and it was so great to follow 1 character throughout his life.
I was entirely unfamiliar with most of the cities this book spoke about, but it was quite fascinating to read a book set mostly overseas. The book starts set in Ireland and it was crazy to hear about how life used to be there. I can’t really imagine how much research Boyne had to put into this book. He is from Ireland, but I’m sure it was still a lot of work for such a thick book (plus it’s not just set in Ireland).
I have never before said this in a review but I am now, if I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. It is a complete and utter masterpiece and definitely lived up to all the hype for me. The Heart’s Invisible Furies sucks you in and doesn’t let you go.
This book explores many social stigmans, many of which are very disturbing. It speaks about AIDS and HIV, and also all the bigotry that was common for a very long time (and let’s face it, still is). This book is definitely full of triggers so just be aware of that. There is a good share of content that is disturbing to read, but also a lot of joy in these pages.
Characters. I enjoyed a lot of the characters in this book even though there were lots of terrible ones. There was incredible banter between a lot of them and it made the book for me. Cyril as a character was someone you would want to be your best friend. He was super sarcastic, smart, but also flawed as all humans are. There were so many funny parts in this book, and Boyne does a fantastic job of countering the sadness with happiness.
Final Thought: I frankly think everyone should read this book. It’s a thick one but it is so worth it! It made me laugh out loud constantly, and tugged at my heartstrings with the sadness it contains. I think it is just so well done, and it reads faster than you’d think it would. Highly recommend!
The Heart’s Invisible Furies in 3-ish words: Witty, Powerful & Absorbing
I am an insatiable reader. This story reaps every emotion.; funny, sad, shocking disgust, etc. The writing is clever and entertaining. I had a hard time “putting it down”.This is definitely one of the best books I have ever read.
I can’t remember when I’ve been so consumed by a book. Author John Boyne takes readers on a journey through one man’s life from conception to near death, and the front-row seat to history’s slowly shifting views of sexuality is both painful and hopeful. I belly laughed and sobbed in equal measure. My heart was held hostage. The Heart’s Invisible Furies is approximately 600 pages long (21+ hours via audio) and I couldn’t put it down. The author is a genius, and the audiobook performance is excellent. Please check it out.
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. The novel is easily one of the best I’ve ever read, and Boyne is one of the most gifted authors out there. Trust me, this is a journey you cherish, a story of love, friendship, and family that touched me on every single level. Couldn’t recommend this one more. Brilliant and unforgettable.
Finishing up a great, long book is often like saying goodbye to a dear friend. I finished this last night and balled my eyes out.
A day after finishing, I was still thinking about this book and having difficulty settling into another one. I often thought the more tragic and coincidental aspects of the story might be a little too tragic and coincidental while reading, but by the time I had reached the fourth part of the book, and then the end, I couldn’t imagine Cyril’s story being told any other way. The events of his life snip corners away from Cyril’s character in an irretrievable way. He’s such a sad figure by the end. They also unflinchingly expose the awfully fallible society within which he was raised. Anything gentler wouldn’t have worked as well, nor allowed the high points and humour to have shined quite as brightly as they did.
This book is funny. Suprisingly so. Horribly so. I laughed despite myself more than once. It’s also very, very sad, and I cried a lot. Unabashedly at times. I also wept after I had finished, while thinking back, and while describing some of the moments to others.
A wonderful story, magnificently told. I’d ordered a paper copy for the keeper shelf within minutes of finishing and bookmarked several of John Boyne’s other books. Now to find the time to read them!
This page turner reveals life in a culture repressed by religious influences. John Boyne allows the reader to witness Ireland’s movement out of ignorance and fear into a progressive society of acceptance. The main character’s often sad life is softened through Boyne’s wit and humor. I loved viewing history through the eye of a human being living in it.
Moving, riveting…I loved it
This will go down as one of my all-time favorite books and that’s saying a lot because I read and have read many, many books over the years. I think what made my love it so much was mainly its characters, whom Boyne drew with precision and great compassion, giving us flawed but loving people we could easily imagine as real. The journey through the years, touching on major world events, made this read universal. It made me laugh, it made my cry, and most of all it made me see myself within its well-crafted and gripping pages.
A look at how changing religious and cultural mores affect a human life from its beginning to end. This extremely clever book had me laughing out loud at times, and tearing up at others. Great character development.
THIS BOOK ! I loved it. It took me awhile to finish reading this book, only due to book club commitments, ARC’s, Life getting in my way etc… BUT I am so glad I finished it late into the night last night when I should have been sleeping. Then I couldn’t stop thinking of it.
A wonderful journey through the life of Cyril Avery beginning in the 1940’s to the 1990’s. We journey through the many trials and tribulations he goes through in his life to finally learn who he is and when he finally realizes he is happy. His story starts out that he is born out of wedlock to a teenage Irish girl who is shunned from her community by her family and the church. She is denounced a whore at the altar of her church and leaves Ireland. Cyril is adopted as an infant by Charles and Maude Avery, though all through his life he is reminded he is not a true Avery. Cyril finds true friendship in his friend Julian where he begins to discover, at least for Cyril, that it is more than friendship. He falls in love with Julian. Hiding his homosexuality for a good deal of his youth, he finally finds true love to find it suddenly ripped away through a brutal act of hatred. The book explores the history of the struggles of the LGBT community and homophobia during this time.
Cyril’s story will make you laugh and cry and cheer for him as he comes to learn and love himself for who truly is! Excellent book, I highly recommend it!
Writing this review is slowly killin’ me. It’s so hard! Let me tell ya why, since you didn’t really ask. I love epic, sweeping, coming-of-age, full-life stories. I love truly getting to know a character through the stages of life, possibly why I read so many books that are in a series. However, a series doesn’t give me a LIFE. Now, with ‘The Heart’s Invisible Furies’, I feel like if this were broken into two separate books the reviews would be soooo much easier. I’d lose that sweeping drama of real life but. . . this review would be easier to write. I feel like this book is two parts. The first part truly turned me off to this book. The second half however, drew me in and almost made up for the first half. Before I jump into why that is I’ll give you a couple of quick disclaimers. First, this book is not Christian Fiction. That being said I do not hold it to the same standard, however you might. There is quite a bit of colorful language in this book. There is also quite a bit of sexual content, at least the talking about such things. Oh yeah, and spoiler. . .the main character is gay.
Let’s get nitty gritty. The first half of this book felt utterly over the top and really dipped into the crass. It didn’t build a relationship with the characters for me. Seriously, for the bulk there was nothing but sex. Talking about sex. And sexual body parts. Talking about engaging in sex. It felt like every character’s only goal in life was sex. It just doesn’t strike as realistic for me. Don’t get me wrong, I get that teenagers (especially males but really all teenagers) are pretty hormone focused. However, literally everyone was having sex, or talking about sex, or having affairs, or just sex. We talk about how this generation is the most sexually open and enlightened but for all the tomatoes half the population of Ireland in the 50s and 60s was doing nothing but scoring. Really, that’s about all I took away from the first half of the book. I was despairing that I would be reading this book in utter disappointment for a genre that I truly enjoy. But . . .
Then the second half of the book happened. I suddenly get real connection with real feelings and real experiences and real relationships. OK, there’s still sex but it’s not every page and it’s not the plot anymore. People are connecting because they have common interests and common values and OK, sex too but not sex for the sake of sex. And it’s not being talked about on every page by every character. Really, sex takes a backseat to connections. It’s like the book finally figured out that depth is vital for a good story and decided it was time to give it a chance. And at a 600-ish page book it really could be two separate books, the same people at a different age in different decades (and even countries) but separate books. This book takes us from an unwed mother just at the close of WW2 through the exploration of life in the 60s to the start of the AIDS epidemic of the 80s (spoiler, the gay character doesn’t have it!), to the new acceptance of the 2000s and beyond. One man. One life. Many decades. Many countries. Many experiences. One truth. Told with a lot of sex, a lot of humor, a lot of personal growth, and ultimately a lot of acceptance. Acceptance of self and others. Seriously, just read the last half.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Blogging for Books. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Some tighter editing would have bumped this to a five star. It would have moved faster if it had been edited down a bit. But even so, it was a great story with a protagonist that grows throughout the story. It tackles some tough themes like religious persecution in Ireland, homosexuality, the aids epidemic, violence against gay people, adoption, and more. Cyril grows into a character you hate to say goodbye to when the story ends.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a moving novel about a young unmarried Irish Catholic girl shunned by her family and church for being pregnant in 1945. Forced to leave her home, she travels to Dublin to find a job, lodging, and to have her child.
The story then follows her son through his life, and his relationships, heartbreaks, triumphs, and losses. As a gay man in conservative Ireland in the 1950-60s. Cyril must face the ignorant opinions and hatred of his fellow citizens. As the world changes and events occur (AIDS, 9/11, legalization of same-sex marriage), it is interesting to see how people change/don’t change.
I loved this book. It really opened my eyes to the pain people endured when not able to freely express their identity. But more than that, it showed the true meaning of a family and real love. Both funny and sad, but ultimately heartwarming. Read it!
Loved the writing and its characters! Followed Cyril from just prior to his birth until his 70s, skipping 7 years between each section. Cyril was a gay male who grew up in a very Catholic Ireland and eventually moved to Amsterdam, then New York, before returning to his homeland. The book illustrated the impact of the community one lives in and how it shapes a person. It also showed the growing acceptance of the LGBTQ community across the years. I read it for book club and we all loved it. Lots to discuss.
I am late to this author. I learned of him through my daughter, who loves his books, and mentioned him to me, so of course, I had to try him out.
Thank you, Jen, you did it again! The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a beautiful story.
It starts with a priest and a young girl who has sinned, and that ‘sin’ produces what turns out to be Cyril Avery – ‘not a real Avery.’ How clever was that to keep in the forefront of every reference to the infant born of the sinner adopted by a husband and wife who (hopefully) only appear in fiction.
I came to love Cyril even though he was so flawed, and yet, when he became unflawed, I loved him even more. Read this book. Enjoy it. Buy the rest of John Boyne’s books. I plan to.
This book was a look at a gay man in Ireland during the 1950’s, and the difficulties he had to acknowledge his true self in a time when homosexuality was illegal. I found his journey to be tragic, realistic and thought provoking. A well-told, sometimes humourous life story that will engage and open you to the fragility of some people’s lives.