The Heart's Invisible Furies - Softcover

Boyne, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385690622 ISBN 13: 9780385690621

Publisher: Anchor Canada, 2018

Synopsis

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 glamorous 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.

About this title

About the Author

JOHN BOYNE is the author of ten novels for adults, five novels for younger readers and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was an international bestseller, selling over 9 million copies worldwide. He has won three Irish Book Awards, a Stonewall Honor Award and a Lambda Literary Award. His novels are published in more than 50 languages. The author lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"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."

Praise for The Heart's Invisible Furies:

"Erstwhile Scotiabank Giller Prize juror John Boyne presents one of his most ambitious novels yet, a story that traces Ireland's turbulent history from the 1940s to the present as seen through the eyes of one man." —Quill and Quire

"Boyne, who has a wonderful gift for characterization, does a splendid job of weaving these various lives together in ways that are richly dramatic, sometimes surprising and always compelling. . . . Often quite funny, the story nevertheless has its sadness, sometimes approaching tragedy. Utterly captivating and not to be missed." —Booklist, starred review

"With quick strokes and bitter humor, Boyne's opening scene encapsulates the Irish church's hypocrisy. . . . Boyne continues his crusading ways with the quiet keening of this painful, affecting novel." —Kirkus, starred review

"Cyril's life story is extraordinary, tragic and triumphant. . . . Boyne dedicates his wise, beautiful 15th novel to John Irving. This tribute fits a story calling to mind the humane sagas of T.S. Garp, Owen Meaney and the humble tale of Piggy Sneed. Readers will fall in love with Boyne's characters, especially Mrs. Goggin and Cyril's adoptive mother, Maude Avery, in this heartbreaking and hilarious story." —Library Journal

"With evocative descriptions of each city and fateful plot turns that twist the narrative in surprising ways, Boyne adroitly captures Cyril's shifting identity as he grapples with nationality, class and sexuality. The book becomes both an examination of Cyril's life and a catalogue of Western society's evolution from post-war to present day, with all its failings, triumphs, complexities and certainties." —Publishers Weekly

"Bleak, bittersweet and Irish to the bone . . . explore[s] the relationship between Catholicism and patriarchy in midcentury Ireland and beyond." —O, The Oprah Magazine

"Boyne writes scenes that will make a reader laugh and cry—without saccharine sentiment or flippancy. Infused with heart and humour, as well as a keen sense of man's capacity for cruelty, The Heart's Invisible Furies pulsates with life's complexity and progress's slow march." —Paste Magazine

"Boyne's fictional portrait of postwar Ireland and its people is nightmarish but utterly compelling. . . . The appalling comedy of Cyril's childhood and youth, the vigour, the mess, the stir and life and horror of it all form the heart of a substantial achievement." —The Guardian

"An epic full of verve, humour and heart . . . sure to be read by the bucketload . . . deeply cinematic [and] extremely funny." —The Irish Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Anchor Canada
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385690622
• ISBN 13: 9780385690621
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 592