A novel full of heart and humor. Would highly recommend.

Please read more of my thoughts on books at:
http://cavebookreviews.blogspot.com

John Boyne deserves high praise just for the title of his new novel, <b>The Heart's Invisible Furies</b>! We all have some form of rage in our hearts, but this is a story told with that beautiful Irish grandeur of a sweeping lifetime epic. Cyril Avery is the narrator, and he is born to an unwed mother. Cyril's mum, Catherine Goggin, is sixteen when the parish priest scorns her in front of the entire congregation. Her parents kicked her out of the house. She travels to Dublin to give birth and find a life, alone and penniless.<br><br> We meet Cyril after his adoption by a wealthy banker and his wife, Charles and Maude Avery. Cyril is constantly reminded that he is an adopted child and love is not given freely if at all in the eccentric household on Dartmouth Square.<br><br>Eventually, Cyril attends a Jesuit college and rooms with Julian Woodbead. They traverse the boarding school trials and tribulations and come out of school, more or less educated and life long friends. Julian has no idea that Cyril is gay and very much in love with him. Julian is a prolific womanizer, and Cyril follows that frantic coupling with men he meets in the bars and back alleys of Dublin. Cyril is always lonely and looking for love.<br><br> The hypocrisy of the Catholic Church is not a new subject, and yet J.B. infuses new life into the anger one can only feel when reading about their antics throughout the time periods of this novel, from the early 50's to the present day. When a group of men who have scores of pedophiles among them, cannot bear to hear about it from a troubled young man in confession, we can only laugh at the results. The priests, from the run of the mill parish blowhards to highly educated Jesuits, continually shock and appall me with their wrath toward young women and men. Youth who are struggling in life are taught to turn to them for help, only to be degraded verbally and often, physically.<br><br>J.B. writes the truth of these men, and with an excellent sense of humor thrown in. His characters ring true with pain, grief, and a strength of character that gets them through a life of suffering. I loved this epic story about a man who lived through adoption, unrequited love, true love, and the AIDs epidemic. Bravo to Mr. Boyne!

Thank you to NetGalley, John Boyne, and Hogarth Press for the opportunity to read this excellent novel.

This book is the kind of book that will stay with me always.It is an extremely powerful book. It definitely packs an emotional punch. Truthfully, I ran a gamut of emotions while reading this book: sadness, incredulity, anger, laughter (yup laughter), heartbreak, hatred.....
John Boyne knows Ireland and he knows the Irish. It is an honest depiction of the people and their narrow mindedness. He does a brilliant job of depicting the Catholic church's dominance over the people and the abhorrent behaviour of its priests. He is a phenomenal writer, pure and simple!
The book takes place over a span of 63 years. It starts in 1945 and moves forward in 7 year increments. That was clever as it progressed the story perfectly. Cyril, our narrator, is a very conflicted person. It is priceless to watch his transformation through the book. The book is packed with people I really cared about. There is so much occurring in Ireland at this time that the author brings into the book, but ultimately this book is about Cyril and the people who come into his life.
I learnt so much from this book. I learnt how far people will go in the name of discrimination. I learnt how hard it is to accept ones own self, ignoring public opinion. There is so much hatred in this world- to be different is always to pay the cost. Things are changing, but ever so slowly.
Wow, what a powerful, memorable book. I loved it.

4.5 but rounding up because I honestly loved this book. At times I thought it a tad too long, but I was engaged from the start of this finely woven novel and couldn't wait to see how it all tied together, i.e., I couldn't put it down. And, FYI, it is dedicated to John Irving.

To start. Cyril Avery, the focus of the book, is: "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..." Starting with Cyril's birth, then adoption, the book advances by chapter--in 7-year increments.

Cyril is gay and his struggles [which begin when he is young] are a focus of the book. BUT, hardly all--there is so much more in this deeply felt story which begins in 1945 and ends in 2015. The book embraces the political/cultural landscape of Ireland and how it has [barely] changed over time--or, just very slowly. [Though there are also years in Amsterdam and New York City.]

There is so much in this book and so many finely wrought characters. Cyril. A primary focus is Cyril and Julian--his heterosexually promiscuous friend [they met when they were 7] for whom he has a great attraction and love. Mrs. Goggins [no spoilers, you will figure this out soon]. His adoptive parents--Charles and Maude--who constantly remind him he is not their own. Bastiaan, Cyril's lover. Jack Smoot. Alice, Julian's sister and ... Ignac, the young boy from Slovenia who Cyril and Bastiaan rescue and make him their family. And so many more.

Beautifully written. Heartbreaking and heartwarming. Sad, but with much self-deprecating humor. There were many times I had an aha moment--thinking now it will be revealed, but Boyne did not tie it up neatly til the end [thank you for that]! And, at the end for me, a teary sigh.

I don't think I can do this book justice save to say--read it!

Such a phenomenal, powerful book. I loved it from beginning to end.

I'm finding it difficult to do justice to this story that evoked so many emotions, sometimes from one extreme to another. I was sad and angry among moments of joy and there were times when I laughed out loud. The story a man struggling in a society that doesn't accept homosexuality, living with the odd people who adopted him at three days old, who said he'd never be an Avery . How is it possible for him to have a capacity for love, for caring when he experiences no love or comfort or caring in these early years with his cold "adoptive " parents? Yet, Cyril can love. As much as a reader can love a character, I loved Cyril from the very beginning as he tells us Cathrine's story at the start of the novel and the start of his life . I especially was drawn to the descriptive writing when sixteen year old and pregnant Catherine arrives in Dublin after being exiled from her home. The descriptions were so clear, I felt as though I was standing there with her .
X
So much ground is covered here - the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church denouncing and banishing a young pregnant girl by the priest who should not throw stones as he himself has fathered illegitimate children, the Church's hold in Ireland, the prejudice and injustice against gay people not just from the church but most of society. Spanning 70 years and highlighting historical events over time and place - from the IRA violence in Dublin to New York City and the AIDS epidemic to Amsterdam back to Dublin, the story is epic. But mostly it is one man's journey in his struggle to be who he is in times when it doesn't seem possible and mostly his unwavering and amazing capacity to love in spite of everything.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Hogarth/Crown Publishing through NetGalley.

This is a wonderful novel, the sort of book every reader hopes for when cracking open a new cover. I've been feeling let down by a lot of new fiction and have been re-reading old favorites--big, fulfilling novels like"A Suitable Boy"by Vikram Seth or "Gospel" by Wilton Barnhardt. "The Heart's Invisible Furies" is the same kind pleasure.

I won't go over the plot--others have already done a lovely job. I do wish that the novel had a different title (this one is nearly impossible to remember) and had given a more compelling cover. But don't be put off. It's a firecracker of a book, and you will look forward to it every day until you reach the last page.

John Boyne is a marvelous writer if you haven't read him before. A great pleasure awaits you!

Few authors can slay me emotionally while simultaneously making me think, the way that John Boyne does. His book The Absolutist (see my original review), is one of my favorite books of all time, and also made my list of the best books I read in 2012. Five years later, I still can't get that book out of my mind or my heart.

While not all of Boyne's books have caught my interest, his latest, The Heart's Invisible Furies, utterly knocked me out. I read the entire book in one day (thanks to two airplane trips, a delayed flight, and time to kill before an out-of-town meeting), and found myself at various times moved, angered, touched, perplexed, and devastated. (Sometimes I existed in more than one of these states simultaneously.)

Cyril Avery is born in 1945 out of wedlock to a fiercely independent teenager in Dublin, who is cast out in disgrace by her small Irish village. Adopted by Charles, a wealthy, womanizing ne'er-do-well and Maud, his novelist wife (who writes like a fiend but is horrified if her books sell or get any fanfare), whose parenting style consist mostly of forgetting he's there, forgetting he's a child, and reminding him he's adopted, Cyril is a quiet, intellectual child, mostly observing the crazy behaviors around him.

When he is seven years old he meets Julian Woodbead, the son of Charles' lawyer and childhood friend. Even at seven, Julian is infinitely more glamorous and worldly than anyone Cyril can imagine, and Cyril is utterly transfixed by him. This chance encounter begins a lifelong relationship which will bring Cyril to the greatest heights and the lowest lows, force him to understand who he is and what he wants and feels he deserves from life, and come to terms with his homeland and its domination by religion, as well as his unique upbringing.

The Heart's Invisible Furies follows Cyril from birth and then moves in seven-year intervals through his life. This is a searing look at how all too often we hide our true selves from those we care about, out of fear, self-loathing, and self-preservation, but it's also a look at how circumstances both within and beyond our control shape our lives and our chances at happiness and satisfaction. This is a story of friendship, love, bravery, pain, loss, violence, politics, religion, prejudice, and trying to find peace within ourselves, against a backdrop of some of the more tumultuous times in our world.

While my description makes this book sound more ambitious than it is, at its heart, this is a book about love of all kinds. Boyne's writing truly took my breath away at times, and even if I found Cyril's character a little too passive occasionally, I still felt for him, as well as the other characters Boyne created. There was a little too much violence in this book (not truly graphic in every case) but I know the scenes were in keeping with the world and time in which they were set.

This book didn't leave me in tears as often as The Absolutist did, but it moved me all the same. (And speaking of The Absolutist, props to Boyne for a subtle tip of the hat to that book in this one.) This is a book that needs to be read, be felt, and be pondered. I know I'll be thinking of the beauty and emotion of The Heart's Invisible Furies for some time.

NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

The voice of the narrator was so clear, I heard in my head with a brogue. Poignant, painful at times, hilarious at others, but ultimately hopeful and affirming. I'm going to go out on a limb, and make it one of the best I've read, ever. But, maybe you need to be from an Irish family, have lived in New York, had a friend die from AIDS, know a woman who placed her child for adoption, or, I don't know, be a human, to really relate to this book!

First, thank you to Crown publishing for making a digital arc available to me through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The story starts in the small town of Goleen Ireland 1945. Catherine Goggin is discovered to be an out of wedlock pregnant teenager. She is exiled by her hypocritical priest and disowned by her family and leaves for Dublin.
This epic novel is broken into 7 year increments to tell the life of Cyril our protagonist who is adopted and a homosexual.
I really enjoyed the descriptions specifically of Dublin, the dialogue was outstandingly written, and the slow reveals we're occasionally enjoyable.
Generally this book would have been one I would have passed on but I am glad I didn't as it is very timely in it's publication as we are redefining what family means and combating homophobia, and I feel this book tackles both subjects incredibly well as it brings to light the struggles and intolerance that those who may be slightly different face by those that think the status quo is the only right way to live. If you choose to read this upon it's American publication come at it with an open mind and you will find characters you will care for deeply with all their complexities and nuiances the author crafted so well, and it might just change you.

Thanks to Crown Publishing, Hogarth Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an incredible book! I couldn't put it down once I'd started it. The story draws you in and keeps you there until the very end. It's set in 20th century Ireland, which was struggling with the politics of an independent Ireland as well as dealing with the Catholic church and its role in society. Ireland in those years had extremely conservative values. Unwed mothers were banned from their homes, and homosexuality was illegal and punishable by imprisonment.

Into this, Cyril Avery was abandoned at birth by an unwed mother in Dublin and raised by a well-to-do detached couple, Charles and Maude Avery, who told him repeatedly that he was never a real Avery. Charles was a banker with questionable ethics and Maude a talented writer who hated the thought of fame of any sort. At age seven he meets Julian Woodbead, the son of a lawyer who is defending Charles. Cyril bonds with him instantly, and although he doesn't see him again for several years, knows he has a crush on Julian.

Cyril has realized that he is gay, and is attending an all boys Catholic boarding school when Julian suddenly appears and becomes his roommate. Cyril hides his homosexuality in school and throughout most of his life.

As he grows older, Cyril runs away from difficult situations and finds himself in different countries, always concerned with the stigma of being gay. He stops in the Unites States for a time working with AIDS patients, and finally ends up back in Ireland faced with an unusual family of his own.

This is an amazing story of one man's struggle to find his way in a society that has little tolerance for him and others of his "type", and his search for love and peace.

I very highly recommend this book. It's unmissable, and I think it will be a huge seller.

I was lucky enough to get this as an ARC through NetGalley, otherwise I may have passed up this beautiful gem! This book takes us through 70 years of the life of Cecil Avery, who had a rough start in life. He was conceived out of wedlock, his mother shunned by the Irish Catholic Church. She found herself alone, penniless and scared. But she had a plan and gave her baby boy up to an adoptive family. But Cecil was never truly an Avery of which his strange family constantly reminded him. They treated him well enough, but he was just sort of there. As Cecil is growing up, he realizes he prefers men and this book takes us on an epic ride through his life. The stigma, the lies, the intolerance, the cruelty. I won't say more as you need to discover his story and his journey for yourself. It was beautiful and painful. I had big fat tears rolling down my face more times than I care to admit. How lives and circumstances intertwined was breathtaking. And the Epilogue was everything. Do yourself a favor and immerse yourself in the life of Cecil Avery.

Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book via NetGalley.

This book has a lot of elements of stories I enjoy— it takes place in Ireland, follows a character throughout his entire life, and use 'fate' to bring people together across many years and many countries. Essentially, on paper it sounds like something I would love. And while there were definitely elements of the story that I enjoyed a lot, I felt a bit detached from the narrative and struggled to get invested in the story.

The main reason I didn't love this story was its length. I'm okay with long books; I even love long books on occasion. But a story really needs to warrant its length, and I felt like this one was dragged down by how long it was. Its nearly 600 pages could easily have been scrapped down by 100-200 pages easily.

I appreciated the central message of this book as the main character came to terms with his sexuality amidst a culture that didn't approve. Cyril was a resilient, flawed, complex main character that literally grew up before my eyes as I was reading, and I really enjoyed seeing how the author developed the characters every chapter through the use of 7 year gaps. However, the characters started to become vehicles for the message and mouthpieces for the author that took away from the naturalness of the story. The dialogue was witty and enjoyable, but occasionally it felt forced, as if the author were spoon-feeding the reader instead of letting them uncover the message. It lacked nuance for me, and that made it a bit unpalatable.

All that being said, I really enjoyed the times while I was reading this book. It did take me a while, but when I would sit down to read it I would get lost in Cyril's story. However, it wasn't a book I was always eager to pick up. I think, again, that was due to its length. I would read a bunch and feel like I hadn't made any progress, and that doesn't really encourage you to keep reading.

This book is dedicated to John Irving, and I can definitely see his influences in the story. Even though I've only read A Prayer for Owen Meany, which I also liked but didn't love, I can imagine Irving fans particularly enjoying this story for its themes, characters, and witticisms.

This was simply spectacular. The arc of this life- at turns comic and tragic. Captured the desperate choices people make, and illustrates how we are all so fragile and damaged yet manage to endure. And the scope of forgiveness- showing how everyone needs to let go and love. Bravo read this AAP!

I ended this story in tears, what a beautiful, horrible, epic family tale. It ranged from 1945 till present times, through many nightmarish times for me. The first years of Aids, the fears the lies, and the Twin Towers, such darkness. I felt so much, this was such an emotional story. It was so real, laced with histories I lived through, a time machine of sorts. I had to stop many times to think about the events and to compare them to my memories of the time.This was the longest I've ever taken to read a book, it could not be read quickly it was too intense.
Cyril born in 1945 to a single mother thrown out by her family and church in Ireland placed in a adopted family lived an epic life. Raised by off centered cold parents, he was always held apart and alone. Growing up he had love for his friend that wasn't allowed or returned. He was a young gay man when it was a near death sentence to be one in Ireland. Political, legal, religious, and social wars against gay people were extreme, he hid and became a bit self destructive. He was terrorized, as were most in that time. He left Ireland after a punch in the gut wedding and began an epic journey through 3 countries, one great love, a new family, and many horrible loses. The great circle of life brought him so close to his roots many times always just a touch.
What a book. I don't think I am capable of describing it fully. It is beyond my ability to write the feelings.

The Catholic Church has not been known for embracing homosexuality, or sexuality except as it relates to bearing children to those happily wed with the blessing of the Church. It is in 1945, this era in Ireland, where sixteen year-old Catherine is exiled from her church by their priest, the same priest, who it will later be discovered had fathered two children by two women. One in Drimoloeague, one in Clonakilty. The same Father James Monro denounces Catherine as a whore and bans her from returning to this town with the congregation looking on as he drags her past the graveyard, giving her an hour to be gone. Forever.

Buying a one-way ticket, she boards the bus to Dublin with plans for no further than getting through this day. A young man named Seán gets on the bus at a later stop and eventually starts up a conversation with Catherine, and when they arrive in Dublin, it is to Seán’s friend Jack’s place they go, where Catherine will end up staying. She will eventually find work in the Dáil Éireann tearoom.

Told in seven-year increments, in 1952 we are introduced to young Cyril Avery, the adopted son of Roger and Maud Avery. Cyril is but a lad of seven years, and is taught to stress to others that he is the adopted son of Roger and Maud. This is the year that young Cyril will meet Julian, who will become his friend, his roommate, and the first boy that Cyril loves. Both Julian’s parents and Cyril’s adoptive parents are fairly well off. Cyril’s adopted mother is an author of some fame, not that she seeks fame, she can’t abide the thought of it.

Through Cyril we follow the changes that have since taken place in regard to sexuality, in Ireland and to some extent in the world. Ireland transforms over the years, becomes less of a theocracy, more tolerant, more attuned to civil rights, in a sense, Ireland's own "coming-of-age" tale. We follow Cyril from Dublin to Amsterdam, to New York, and eventually back to Ireland again, covering more than the struggle for gay rights; this also touches on the topic of sexual slavery, and more.

This story is the coming-of-age account of one boy-to-man, struggling with who he is and where or even if he belongs anywhere in this world, the shame he carries with him, the fear of being “found out,” the desire to find a place where he is accepted, most can relate to the feeling of wanting to feel safe and accepted. The people he meets through his life by chance, these wonderful characters help shape him, help him find a way to deal with his feelings of loss, and help lead him to an emotional place of peace.

All these struggles, and yet Boyne manages to include moments of humour, moments of lightness, moments of fun. There are tragic, devastating moments, and anger, balanced by some lovely, inspiring moments. Those commonplace moments of life, as well. Most of all, there’s love, finding love, falling in love, and living in love.

I was completely immersed in these words of Boyne. I laughed, I cried, and I was reminded that sometimes salvation may be found within, but even that requires a journey.

Highly Recommended


Pub Date: 22 Aug 2017

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Crown Publishing / Hogarth

I'm not sure at this moment if I plan on writing a full review for the Literary Hoarders website, but for now this was what was posted to my Goodreads:

Sigh. Oh John Boyne, I feel as though you kind of let me down here! This was a beautiful story, and from the start I was drawn right in. A wonderful story about Cyril Avery and his quest to find happiness and identity - said to be an ode to John Irving (and I'm assuming In One Person)

However, Boyne completely cheapened this beautiful tale with the excessive, absurd, ridiculous and annoying over-the-top immature continuous sex-talk. Every single time a man entered the page he was making comments about tits, mickeys, garden hoses, sticking it to women every chance they got. The caricatures of men as over-sexed boys was overdone, excessive and ridiculous. It was as though every man in Ireland saw girls/women as only tits and ass.

I had enough of it as it was on page after page after page - I honestly skipped a 1/4 of the book and finally found that it began to settle down into the wonderful story it started as. The remaining 1/4 of the book featured more of what I anticipated from John Boyne's storytelling powers.

I'm over-analyzing and railing against Boyne in trying to understand why he cheapened his novel in the way he did.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30839467-the-heart-s-invisible-furies" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Heart's Invisible Furies" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480877119m/30839467.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30839467-the-heart-s-invisible-furies">The Heart's Invisible Furies</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7195.John_Boyne">John Boyne</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1951641631">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
What a story! This is about a Dubliner, Cyril Avery and takes place just prior to his birth, and in 7 year increments thereafter. We are taken from Ireland, to Amsterdam, then New York.. and back to Ireland.<br /><br />We see the hypocrisy and influence of the Catholic Church in post World War ll Ireland until its evolution of change many years later, and how Cyril managed to live his homosexual life during these times. <br /><br />These characters are wonderful and ended up meaning so much to me! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!<br /><br />Thank you to Crown Publishing Group, Netgalley, and John Boyne!!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/12851291-karen">View all my reviews</a>

Overall, I found Cyril Avery to be a great character written into a compelling story. Some very serious subjects are addressed in the book, and the author uses humor to lighten the weight of these issues which I appreciated. I found myself laughing out loud even in sections where you would not expect the author could mesh the heavy with the light. There is real skill involved in blending these heart wrenching subjects with humor, and the author excels at that.

I love a good redemption story, and Cyril Avery may not be a real Avery but you cannot help but love to cheer him on anyway.

I finished this seconds ago.... THE BEST NOVEL of 2017......
It's not only a FAVORITE-FAVORITE....It makes my top 10 BEST BOOKS in at least the last 5 or 6 years!!!! PHENOMENAL- long - lush perfectly escapist read!!!!

I read this book SLOW -- I SERIOUSLY LOVED it soooooo MUCH I'm 'ga-ga'/goo-goo' over this novel!!! I'm sorry it's over --- I can't imagine starting another book:
THIS novel has EVERYTHING I want in a powerful saga... AND MORE:

.....It's set against the dramatic backdrop of Irish political/ cultural Catholic Church in Ireland in the 20th century.
.....I got a deeper experience about The Parliament of Ireland - The Dial Eiereann - TD Bankers - oppression- bigotry - discrimination - hostility towards gays - and hostility towards Ireland.
THOUGHTS ABOUT IRELAND in the 40's - 50's. 60's:
......"There's not a nation on the face of the planet more obsessed with sex"......
"A degenerate race. No one talks about sex, yet it's all they think about".....( says one New Yorker character in the story).
......"Ireland is a backward place – – people with no empathy for anyone" ( says a character in Amsterdam)
......Belvedere College is a catholic college for boys: .... The society of Jesus- Its run by Jesuit priests. -- Homosexuality was considered a sin - Boys who are caught holding hands with another boy....would result in being expelled from the school. Gays were called 'nanny-boys', 'perverts' 'fags', deviants, etc.
.......The author, John Boyle... really drives home for the reader what Dublin, the Nation's Capital was like starting from the 40's .... with abusive Priests, conniving churchman, adulterous husband, miserable bigots, paupers who receive no help from the state, a town filled with innocents, and millionaires who suck the lifeblood from it. We see the changes in Ireland through the years: slowly.... ending in the year 2015.

......THIS IS A JUICY - PAGE TURNING EMOTIONALLY riveting journey with
......FANTASTIC Memorable characters.......
........with Incredibly non- stop treasure STORYTELLING- surprises - ongoing - ITS SO DAMN GREAT!!!! Funny - shocking- leaving the reader excited to see what's coming down the pipeline next!!!!!

I've pages and pages of highlighting notes on my kindle -- FEEL FREE TO READ THROUGH THEM. I was so SPENT after reading this ALL DAY TODAY....and much of yesterday...... that I'm now a little lazy to write a detail review....BUT YOU DONT NEED IT!!!! It will be soooo enjoyable to discover all the many treasures!!!!!

GREAT DISCUSSION BOOK .....BECAUSE YOU'LL miss this novel so much when it ends - you'll be excited to talk about it with other people! I can't wait!!!

I laughed - I cried - I discussed ( while laughing), this with my husband: things like: an ear - a toe - a thumb - a syringe - the scrotum - or even "remembering to comb your hair"..... and "remember where you are and what you've come here to do".....
This will ALL HAVE MUCH MORE MEANING WHEN 'YOU' READ THE BOOK!!!

Lots of TALK about SEX.... [A HOT TOPIC]....
From Ireland to Amsterdam to New York ...
back to Ireland.....

I WAS NEVER BORED --- NEVER!!!! I didn't want the book to end!!!

Meet sexy handsome outgoing best friend Julian. A 'charmer'....woman and men flock to him. Julian is Cyril's best friend. Cyril is gay. Julian is straight - Cyril has an obsessive secret love crush for Julian - Cyril fantasizes having sex with Julian.

Meet Good girl Mary Margaret Muffet: FUNNY DIALOGUE in every scene she is in!!
She becomes Cyril's first fiancé.

Meet Alice -- who is left at the altar once. She marries again: even more drama!!

Meet Catherine Goggin.... manages a Tea cafe - much more to learn about this awesome powerhouse woman.

Meet Bastiaan - A research scientist... A doctor of communicable disease. He's from
Amsterdam.... and there is a love story...

I've only shared a few tidbits- BUT NO SPOILERS .

ITS THE BEST BEST BEST BOOK!!!!
Once in Amsterdam----visit galleries, Books stores , street artists, enjoy cycling, sightseeing,..... the cultured life that Cyril didn't have in Dublin.

Sooo many wonderful scenes! I HOPE this book becomes a movie - and more than that ..... I hope it wins awards after awards after awards!!!!

Highly HIGHLY recommended!!!!!!!!

5 STRONG STARS

Thank You Crown Publishing, Netgalley, and John Boyne