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The Heart’s Invisible Furies is about one man’s search for self and moreover, self-acceptance. This story, which takes place in Ireland, New York and Amsterdam, is about as well as narrated by Cyril Avery and begins before he is even born. At three days old, he is adopted by the Avery’s, who constantly remind he that he is not a real Avery. In fact, they have him call them by their first names, Charles and Maude, rather than Father and Mother. We meet a cast of characters who, by the end of the novel, become interconnected and getting to that point is a fascinating journey.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies is about one man’s search for self and moreover, self-acceptance. This story, which takes place in Ireland, New York and Amsterdam, is about as well as narrated by Cyril Avery and begins before he is even born. At three days old, he is adopted by the Avery’s, who constantly remind he that he is not a real Avery. In fact, they have him call them by their first names, Charles and Maude, rather than Father and Mother. We meet a cast of characters who, by the end of the novel, become interconnected and getting to that point is a fascinating journey.
Cyril meets a young boy Julian at 7 years of age and immediately falls in love with him. However, Julian is a heterosexual so a romantic relationship is not to be but Julian does continue as a major player in Cyril’s life throughout school and again, later in the story. In fact, their two families are closely linked to each other throughout the novel in more ways than one might expect:
Two families inextricably tied to each other from beginning to end as is the house on Dartmouth Street, occupied by both at different times.
Cyril grapples with his homosexuality and eventually comes to terms with it after many struggles along the way. This novel tells the story of his life. The writing is superb and quite clever at times:
“What you know about women,” replied Maude, “could be written in large font on the back of a postage stamp and there’d still be room for the Lord’s prayer.”
But for all that we had, for all the luxury to which we were accustomed, we were both denied love, and this deficiency would be scorched into our future lives like an ill-considered tattoo inscribed on the buttocks after a drunken night out, leading each of us inevitably toward isolation and disaster.
The characters are well-developed and you get a real sense of who they are, what motivates them, who they care about, and how they relate to Cyril. I recommend spending time with Cyril Avery and getting to know his story through this well-crafted book.
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