I love everything Heather O'Neill writes and this is no exception. I loved this book! A true unhinged woman novel for anyone that loves that genre and is looking for a new recommendation.

When We Lost Our Heads was such a pleasant surprise for me! I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but I was intrigued by the plot description and also to read O'Neill's latest! I ended up really enjoying it. The characters were all so well done, all of them both so horrible but also the reader could totally tell their motivations and that made them endearing and a bit softer. I think the characters will appeal a lot to readers who currently enjoy millennial sad girl fiction (even though this isn't that).
The setting was excellently described, and I felt like I could imagine both the Golden Mile and the Squalid Mile in detail. The writing was easy to read and engaging. The themes were striking in that they seemed incredibly relevant to 2022. I would highly recommend people picking this up!

Another weird (in the greatest way possible!) story from O'Neill. We follow Marie and Sally, two girls from the Golden Mile neighbourhood of Montreal starting in 1873. Their friendship leads to a catastrophic event that separates them for years. Their paths, albeit incredibly different, reunite them throughout the years in the most fantastical ways.
"When We Lost Our Heads" is a perfect bland of historical fiction and great characters; she truly shines as a writer with this new novel. I'll be getting my physical copy ASAP!

I love Heather O'Neill. That being said, not the right time for me - DNF - too dark for me at the moment. I appreciate her wit, her memorable characters and the way she brings the time and place of her novels to life. I can happily handsell this title to readers looking for something meatier and more enduring than lightweight mysteries, romances and historical fiction. Heather O'Neill is a treasure. thank you.

Always always the most quirky reads from Heather O’Neill. I think the quirkyness is what always hooks me. Her work is always different, intriguing and beyond entertaining.

I'm not even sure where exactly to start with this review. "Beautifully written with captivating characters," is an understatement for what this book really is. I LOVED the love/hate relationship between Sadie and Marie and how they are drastically different from each other. I loved the portrayal of the 19th Montreal, women's role in the labour movement, class relations during this time, and sex/sexuality. I found at times the book did drag on, but the story is so worth it! The ending was a surprise for me.

Twelve year old Marie Antoine is beautiful, blonde, charming and spoiled. Her widowed father is the owner of a prosperous sugar factory. Marie’s happy demeanour makes her the most popular girl on the Golden Mile, the area where Montreal’s richest residents reside.
Then one day in 1873 the dark haired beauty Sadie Arnett moves to the Golden Mile. Her family has inherited a house but does not have the financial resources that the Antoine family has but the Arnett’s do have serious political aspirations.
The two girls meet and immediately become fast friends. The easy going Marie is attracted to Sadie’s dark side. Their friendship deepens as does the intensity of their play. A life changing event forces the two girls to be separated and Sadie is sent away to bordering school in England while Marie remains in Montreal.
Many years later the two women meet again. Marie has become the owner of the sugar factory. Sadie has returned to Montreal but has been forced out of the family home.
She ends up living in a working class neighbourhood and begins to understand the struggles of the working class.
WHEN WE LOST OUR HEADS is an outstanding story. Marie and Sadie are two of the most memorable characters I have come to know. I am huge Heather O’Neill fan and I think WHEN WE LOST OUR HEADS is her best so far.
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced digital edition of this book.

When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill starts off with a bang as we meet two girls, Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett, who develop an intense friendship. I loved the 1873 Montreal setting and the strong feminine themes. I usually don’t read historical fiction but this one was really transporting. I loved all the humour in this book! I found this novel a touch too long. As we follow the girls as they grow up I was losing interest but I did enjoy the ending.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada via NetGalley for my advance review copy!

Heads will roll. Heather O'Neill has made certain of that!

I just… I can’t even… deep breaths. Just thinking about this book requires deep breaths. Reading it was a visceral experience - in the most incredible way.

Heather O’Neill is a spectacularly unique voice. It’s impossible to describe.

Set in Victorian Montreal, When We Lost Our Heads plays out like the darkest of Grimm's fairy tales, with the perfect amount of juxtaposition between light and dark while also convoluting the line between good and evil, innocence and villainy, beauty and beastly. Dismally humorous, deeply sexual, unapologetically and even violently feminist - this novel is a treasure trove of surprises that consistently take the reader deeper and deeper down into the exploration of female love, female power, and the destructive potential of power, wealth and desire.

This is not a retelling of the French Revolution, but the nods to and the riffing off of that historical period are a beautiful wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the reader that adds yet another layer of complexity to this intricate novel. Heather O'Neill's dark fairy tale presents a story set in the Victorian era that completely de-centers the male experience, removes the shackles of the patriarchy and digs deep into female desire, female rage, female sexuality, and female power.

Thank you so much to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

This was my first Heather O’Neill book and I was not prepared! This book caught my eye because of the historical Montreal setting but I was halfway through before my brain caught up with the connection with the French Revolution (I know Marie Antoine is kind of obvious, but it took seeing the name Robespierre for me to clue in....)

This book was an intense read for me. The relationship between Marie and Sadie at times made me wistful for my youth and the girls I used to play with down the block, but at other times it made me incredibly uncomfortable and angry that girls are so often set up to compete with each other in unhealthy ways.

Heather O’Neill’s writing style is very distinctive. The sentences are short and the similes are plentiful. It definitely challenged me to pay attention to what I was reading because the words on the page seemed frivolous and empty but they were often saying more than what you might first assume (see my note about the name Marie Antoine above). I could have sunk into the prose the way you sink into a plush couch, but I did get bored of the never ending similes by the end of the book. Sometimes coat tails are just coat tails and not racing sea otters.

I loved the way that the theme of equality was explored, both gender equality and the gap between those living in poverty and the ultra wealthy. I was pleasantly surprised to find a historical setting with unapologetic lesbians and gender queer characters who were pushing the societal boundaries of what was deemed acceptable. Though there was a dearth of characters I wanted to root for which meant it was a bit of a bleak read, just waiting for everyone to get their just deserts. Without spoilers all I will say is that George was the best part of the entire novel, and I will leave it at that.

The plot was engaging if somewhat predictable by the end, but then, the plot isn’t really the point of a novel like this. And knowing what was coming before the characters did made the ending feel a bit like watching a car crash, you know it’s a terrible thing that is happening in front of you but you can’t look away.

Overall I would recommend this book to those who like a bit of a challenging read that is going to make them think twice about the words on the page. I will definitely pick up another Heather O’Neill book but I think I may need a break to recuperate from this one first.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.*

💥Content Warning: Suicide, death of a parent, killing animals, drug use, abortion, rape, prostitution, gender identity, and sexual content💥
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Thank you Harper Collins Canada for the eARC! I ended up buying the book because I loved it so much. Like, it's SO GOOD. Y'all need to read it. I have no words, it's just an amazing piece of writing. This book covers so many topics about the female plight and it's such a profound and emotional read. The writing style and character building is fantastic. Everything is just so great. There's also a couple plot twists near the end that blew my mind. Just go read this 😍

6/5 Stars

“Every decent friendship comes with a drop of hatred. But that hatred is like honey in the tea. It makes it addictive.”

This was a strange book and reading experience for me. I was intrigued by the characters, loved the themes, and was thoroughly shocked by the ending but I was slightly bored reading it. The writing style is beautifully descriptive and insightful about human character but there is very little dialogue in the story. I kept waiting for the characters to have meaningful conversations with each other but that didn’t happen.
The story follows two little girls who become instant best friends (but more like frenemies) when they meet in the upscale neighborhood they live in in Montreal. The best friends are forced apart after a dangerous game they play ends in tragedy. When they meet again as young women, they continue to love and hurt each other but can’t seem to live without one another.
I loved how the author, Heather O’Neill, explores the inner thoughts of girls and women living in a patriarchal and capitalist society where one’s gender and social class limit the women from making choices and controlling their own destinies. The story exemplifies the hollow promise white feminism which has traditionally worked to uphold existing systems rather than dismantling them to ensure equality for all. Many aspects of the story mirror the world as it is today:
“No oppressor actually sees themselves as one. They, like everyone else, are too busy identifying themselves as victims.”

My favorite aspect of the book is the exploration of gender identity and expression, queer relationships and sexuality.

TW: sexism, homophobia, gun violence, rape, prostitution, abortion, miscarriage

Thank you @harpercollinsca for a gifted ARC of this book that was published on February 1st.

Another win from supremely talented Canadian writer Heather O'Neill! Utterly original, creative and unputdownable!! I absolutely loved this fantastical historical fiction novel set in 19th century Montreal that features a cast of wild women. Witty, sexy, feminist fun, this book tackles issues of class, gender, sexuality and women's rights in such a clever way. Highly recommended for fans of other feminist historical fiction books like Upright women wanted by Sarah Gailey or the Invisible life of Addie LaRue. I also REALLY enjoyed the multiple references to Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin market!! Much thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollinsCanada for my advance review copy!

I found this novel both entertaining and thought-provoking. In some ways, it reminded me of a Victorian novel.

The book opens with the friendship between two girls. Marie Antoine is the spoiled daughter of the owner of a sugar factory. She lives on the Golden Mile, home to the wealthiest and most powerful families in late 19th-century Montreal. In 1873, Marie meets Sadie Arnett when her status-conscious family moves into the neighbourhood. Though opposites in appearance, the two girls immediately form such a passionate, intense friendship that they become obsessed with each other. They engage in daring behaviour often instigated by Sadie who is fascinated with death and the darker aspects of life and is introduced as “strange” and “different” and “devilish.” A tragic event leads to their being separated during most of their teenage years, but it is inevitable that they will be reunited. It is also inevitable that their reunion will be consequential.

The friendship between the girls is complicated. An observation is made that “Every decent friendship comes with a drop of hatred. But that hatred is like honey in the tea. It makes it addictive.” This seems to be true because though the two love each other, as soon as they met, they experience jealousy. Sadie comments, “It was a strange feeling, jealousy. When she saw the way her parents treated Marie, she was jealous. Once this feeling had been awoken in her, it was impossible to make it dormant again.” When Marie meets Sadie who is as intelligent and talented as she, “It planted the seed of jealousy in her. And that seed began to grow and it bore thoughts that were like tendrils.” When the two are reunited, Sadie believes, “Their characters were both too strong. There was just no way they would ever be able to coexist peacefully. They could either resume their explosive love affair that would somehow bring down everyone around them or they ought to be on opposite sides of the Atlantic.” There is suspense as the reader wonders what mayhem the two will cause.

The reader will definitely have an emotional reaction to Marie and Sadie. They possess lavish personalities: they are intelligent, ambitious, determined, and manipulative. I was fascinated, just as I was also often repelled. I certainly don’t agree with all their decisions and actions, but their motivations are always clear and understandable. This is also true for secondary characters like Mary, George, and Jeanne-Pauline.

I couldn’t help but notice the parallels between the names of characters in the book and important figures in the French Revolution: Louis Antoine (Louis XVI); Marie Antoine (Marie Antoinette); Sadie (Marquis de Sade); Mary Robespierre (Maximilien Robespierre); Jeanne-Pauline Marat (Jean-Paul Marat); and George Danton (Georges Danton). Since the novel includes more than one type of revolution and an uprising of the lower classes, these parallels are appropriate.

A major focus is gender roles. Again and again, statements about the expectations of female behaviour are mentioned: “Ladies were supposed to moderate their physical behavior. They were supposed to speak in an articulate and reserved fashion. They were not supposed to act as though they were transported by their emotions.” And “There was a pervasive idea that girls were all on the brink of madness. It took much less than anyone previously believed to push a girl over the edge. A single novel could do it. A complicated idea could do it. Having ambition and wanting to have an occupation could definitely do it. It was too taxing on the female brain. They had to be monitored carefully to make sure they stuck to exclusively feminine subjects. It was disturbing and unnatural for women to engage in male endeavors.” And women had to learn the basics of history “so they could follow men’s conversation. They were not, however, to form an opinion on anything. It was up to men to do that. Women would simply marvel at their ideas.” And “A woman ought to be pleasing to others, even when they were at their most miserable.”

Women were expected to marry because “being aligned with a real man brought a woman so much social standing in the world.” Of course, once married, they were expected to live in “a state of humbled servility,” and to be subjected to abuse: “It was usual for women to suffer abuse at home. There were no laws against it. It wasn’t exactly socially acceptable, but everybody did it.” Women were not allowed to be idle: “Women never got to be alone. That was too much of a luxury. Women always had someone to take care of.”

Particular attention is given to women and sexual desire. The Madonna-whore dichotomy is mentioned: “Women are either one thing or the other . . . indisputably wicked and terrifying, [or] . . . sheltered and pure.” If a woman were the former, “they would have her committed. The most socially approved way of ruining a girl. She would never be heard from again.” Women’s sexual pleasure was secondary to a man’s: “There were no guidebooks for women’s pleasures. There were only guidebooks that instructed a woman on how to give other people pleasure.” But since the female orgasm has no reproductive function and no other purpose other than enjoyment, “All the strict matrimonial laws were put in place because men didn’t want to have to stake their future on female desire.” In fact, a man could use a woman’s orgasm against her: “It could never be considered rape if the girls had an orgasm. He turned their orgasms against them. He considered their orgasm to be a form of consent.” If raped, a woman “was not allowed to talk about what had happened to her.” If an unmarried woman became pregnant, “what had happened to her was her own fault. She had spoiled herself. She was a whore.” One of the most crushing statements is, “[Women] were so surprised by their own ruin, as though it had hit them like lightning and not through an inevitable path the world had set out for them.”

Another focus is the radical disparity between the upper and lower classes, the rich and the poor, those who live on the Golden Mile and those who shelter on the Squalid Mile. Sometimes the disparity is mentioned in statements like, “When you were that rich, you didn’t have to be angry with your child. You hired a governess to do it.” But then there are detailed descriptions of conditions for workers. Marie thinks “’Working at a sugar factory is quite wonderful. We have the world’s most splendid machines. And what’s more, you inhale and sugar gets in your lungs and stays there. And when you cough, you cough sugar,’” but in reality accidents and mutilations occur on a regular basis. Children are hired because they can be paid less, and women are “underpaid, overworked, sexually vulnerable.”

The lyrical language is noteworthy. There are many poetic descriptions of writing: “The tip of her pen made the flight pattern of neurotic birds mating. The looping words on the page were like knots in a girl’s hair that had formed after she’s been standing in the wind. They were like the tendrils of a plant if spring happened all in one moment.” And “Sadie moved the tip of her pen like a sailboat over the waves on a most perfectly windy day. Her editing pen was making notes and slashes like a seabird dipping for fish.” And “the ink words turned into black goldfish, and swam off the page.”

There is so much in this novel that a second reading would be useful. O’Neill has written a raw and gritty novel about women who behave boldly and unapologetically; it reminded me of Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen in which a woman who does not conform to societal norms is branded a witch. I think this book will cause a real stir – and deservedly so.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley. Quotations may not be exactly as they appear in the final copy.

WHEN WE LOST OUR HEADS is a fantastic work of speculative historical fiction and is hands-down my favourite Heather O’Neill book to date. O’Neill delivers a veritable sucker punch of a first chapter, and I was all in for the wild ride that ensued.

The story opens in a rose garden in Montreal’s wealthy Golden Mile neighbourhood in 1873, where two precocious twelve year old girls named Marie Antoine and Sadie Arnett commit a terrible crime. The novel follows the coverup and the girls’ diverging journeys into adulthood, set against the Industrial Revolution and rising discontent of the female working class in the city. The point of view shifts multiple times, allowing us to see both the lavish and squalid sides of the Victorian era, from sprawling estates and boarding school to factories and brothels.

This is a book with deeply flawed yet fascinating main characters and a cast of compelling secondary characters. As the novel carries on, you’ll find that each character with a name is tied to a figure from the French Revolution, from our main characters to Louis Antoine, Agatha, Mary Robespierre, Jeanne-Pauline Marat and George Danton. I was particularly drawn to George and appreciated the author’s choice to include a gender non-conforming character, especially in a novel that examines sex, gender, class and power.

O’Neill’s writing is both direct and evocative, and she has the remarkable ability to imbue poetry into the most gritty and depraved of circumstances. I frequently paused to underline passages, and several times, I just had to set the book on my lap, take a breath and exhale a “god-DAMN” aloud to myself.

Highly recommended!

I was granted eARC access to When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O'Neill via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

When We Lost Our Heads is a dark and gritty coming-of-age story set initially/part of the time in 1873 Montreal and part of the time overseas. Marie and Sadie are the best of friends, absolutely inseparable, until a terrible accident results in the death of a maid and the girls are to blame. When one friend betrays the other, the girls are separated into a nursing situation back home and a boarding school far, far away. It's only when they've lost each other in addition to their innocence that they truly begin to understand what they had and what they've lost.

Content warning: sexually explicit scenes, rape and prostitution, abortion.

I think this is one of those books that will be some peoples' new long-term favourite that burrows deep into the brains and hearts and keeps coming up when asked for recommendations for decades. I can see this being used in college/university settings. I can see this being compared to "the classics." I think it's beautifully written for what it's meant to be. Unfortunately, it didn't convince me that it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I recognize good writing when I see it, and this is a top-notch example of the flavour of literary fiction the author is going for. I'm just clearly not the target audience.

This is going to be a love it or hate it title among everyone who isn't used to giving higher praise to things they didn't like even if it deserves it, so I firmly expect the average rating on this book to sink below what it's worth once it has had time to collect a lot of them. If you like dark and gritty hard-truth life story fiction, don't be dissuaded by reviews from people who didn't like it. This one is so brutally raw and honest that it's going to polarize the audience.

TBH, 2021 had me feeling a little burnt out. There was a lot of autofiction, a lot of myopic first person narrative, v internal, v soundbite-y. And as a result, I was craving some plot, some third person narrative, some extravagance, something I could sink my teeth into. And with When We Lost Our Heads, that is exactly what I got.

O’Neill’s latest work, set in 19th century Montreal, follows Marie Antione and Sadie Arnett through a perverse coming-of-age story. The through-line in O’Neill’s work is the use of poetic, almost musical, language, that is pushed to the limits of realism but is brought back by the very dark, very raw subject matter her books tackle. The juxtaposition between tone and substance are an O’Neill hallmark. While I didn’t connect with Marie and Sadie with the same emotional tenacity as a did the characters in O’Neill’s previous works, this book was definitely the most fun and outlandish work of her bibliography.

While you can simply enjoy this novel on the surface as an entertaining read, to fully appreciate O’Neill’s talent and intentions, its reader has to enjoy metaphors (big and small) and the unexpected vulgarity and commentary encased in beautiful (and sometimes crude) language.

“It was like a Roman sculpture of a nude. Its beauty transcended vulgarity.”

Big thanks to Harper Collins Canada for the advanced copy!

O"Neill is an award-winning author of literary fiction from Montreal. Her past books include "Lullabies For Little Criminals" and "The Lonely Hearts Hotel". She is known for exploring the lives of strong women living in poverty and this one continues that theme. The story is set in Montreal in the late 1800's. Marie is the daughter of a wealthy sugar baron. When she meets Sadie, the daughter of a parents with ambitions to better their lives, they form a fast friendship. Sadie is a different child, however, and is a thrill seeker as well as drawn to the darkness is life. When one of their games turns deadly they are parted, but are reunited 12 years later. This is a story of gender roles, sexual freedoms, and both women's and workers rights. It immerses us in the grandeur of the wealthy and the despair of the poor. This weirdly wonderful book is a great recommendation for fans of literary fiction that are comfortable with something a little different and a little darker.

I was riding a serious high as I turned the final (digital) page and sat down to review this book while everything was fresh in my mind. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, a five star read for me. I can’t remember the last time I was taken so thoroughly away to a world that existed in a book. That feeling that I had after finishing is the reason that we read and When We Lost Our Heads was an absolute masterpiece of an escape.

Marie and Sadie have the kind of compelling childhood friendship that makes them irresistible to one another even despite their differences. When their daring and dangerous behaviour forces a separation between the two, they turn to different targets for their compulsion. Marie, the more affluent of the two, uses her privilege as a power-play and to grow wealth and social status. The heir to a sugar fortune, she has bright ideas that she struggles to turn into reality. Sadie, who bore the brunt of their shared misdeeds suffers the consequences through alienation from her life as she knows it. She turns her fury into fuel for her creative dreams and her revolutionary art.

Throughout their early twenties, the girls move in and out of one another’s orbits, finding their own purposes and communities in the process. Marie remains elevated from the public and the realities of life while Sadie lives in an opposite existence, exploring the city’s underworld. The magnetism that exists between them never truly disappears as it thunders like a freight train in the distance. The reader can’t help but feel it getting ever closer on its collision course as the story progresses. What is impossible to predict was the web of interconnectivity that was revealed in the book’s explosive ending.

Set in the mid-to-late-1800s, When We Lost Our Heads explores issues of class, gender and identity in a way that seems unimaginable in our current experience. It addresses issues of societal tolerance and understanding and it also reveals a lot about the history of industry and, although not specifically addressed, the early origins of organized labour. I loved that this entire book was built around strong female characters who were bold and unapologetic in their actions.

O’Neill has an incredible knack for sharing her deep and diverse characters, painting a vivid setting and immersing the reader into the era. There is so much to feel about Marie, about Sadie, and about those left in their wake.

“The book had had its way. That was what a book wanted most: to have the most corrupt and devastating effect. To change the world of those who read it.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you to HarperCollins Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book. It will be published on February 1st and I strongly recommend you get a preorder in before then.

Heather O'Neill knocks it out of the park yet again! I have always been drawn to O"Neill's stunningly gorgeous lyrical writing and When We Lost Our Heads is no exception. She alludes to this near the end of the book, but her writing has a dark fairy tale quality to it, that reflects the grittiness of her characters lives. Looking at the two main characters, Marie and Sadie, we see them become full, well-rounded (and to be honest not likeable) characters. Even when they are children O'Neill does not cut corners, and gives them nuanced personalities right from the beginning. And throughout both of their journeys the reader is not always going to agree with the choices that they make, but you are always aware of the motivations behind those actions.

So much of When We Lost Our Heads revolves around themes of class, gender, sexuality, and love, all within the setting of 1870s/80s Montreal. And what I really loved was how the relationship between class and gender was explored. At the beginning, when a tragic event happens, we see how Marie is able to escape consequences while Sadie cannot because of her status within society. And throughout their lives they, along with all the women living in Montreal, experience various limitations because of their gender.

I will always recommend Heather O'Neill to people, and I have a strong feeling that When We Lost Our Heads will be a book that sticks with me for a long time.