The Heart’s Invisible Furies

April 1, 2025 /

The Heart’s Invisible Furies ~ John Boyne

Cyril Avery is born in Dublin in 1945, to a young unwed woman, Catherine, who relinquishes him to a convent to be adopted. He is raised by Maude and Charles Avery, a couple who want a son because it seems the thing to do. Maude is a writer and is mostly interested in writing her books and chain smoking cigarettes. Charles is a businessman (I don’t remember what he does actually) and is kind of shady. One day when Cyril is 7, Charles’ lawyer comes to the house with his two young children, Julian (7) and Alice (5 or 6). Julian and Cyril play a bit of “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours”, and while Cyril doesn’t really understand sex or sexuality, he begins to understand that he is attracted to boys. The novel follows Cyril through his life, from 1945 to about 2015, through the repression and hatred towards gays in Ireland and the Church in the 50s and 60s, the more open societies of Amsterdam and New York in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, up to the new millennium with increased understanding and acceptance. I liked Cyril as a character, though there were a couple of times when I wanted to punch him in the face. I felt like his character really grew and developed, and the writing was beautiful.

I loved this book. It was long but didn’t feel it. It reminded me of what ‘A Little Life’ could have been if that novel weren’t quite so focused on unrelenting suffering. (I’ve heard that book described as ‘torture porn’, and that’s exactly how I felt about it. Also that god damned ending. BAH.) There is suffering here too, but also joy, redemption, forgiveness, and love in its many forms. Highly recommended.

16 Comments

  • Pat B

    April 1, 2025 at 5:51 am

    I LOVED this book! It was one of my fave books over the past few years. It is such a wel written story and laugh out loud funny at times. I hated for it to end. I like your comparison to A Little Life – it would have been more enjoyable if it wasn’t so painful for the entire book.

  • Margaret

    April 1, 2025 at 9:33 am

    This is a classic…yet another one I haven’t read. We’ve had a few Book Club books that I considered tragedy porn but this one sounds not so dreary.

  • Lisa's Yarns

    April 1, 2025 at 9:54 am

    I adored this book! Cyril is one of my all-time favorite characters! I usually don’t re-read books but this is a book I would re-read. All of Boynes books have been excellent. He has a series of novellas that have only been published in the UK so far. I’m anxious for them to be released in the US so I can check them out.

    • J

      April 1, 2025 at 9:58 am

      I loved Cyril too, except when I wanted to punch him in the face. (Just that one time) I love love loved Catherine, too. She was perfection.

  • NGS

    April 1, 2025 at 12:56 pm

    Nope. I’m not here for suffering anymore. I live in these United States in 2025. I am now only reading lighthearted books. For the next…indefinite amount of time.

  • Allison McCaskill

    April 1, 2025 at 5:52 pm

    From the description sounds similar to Shuggie Bain, which I also loved, although it was very sad in parts. I’ve heard the same about A Little Life, and I hated the other book I read by the same author. I am tempted to give it a read just so I can argue from a position of knowledge, but not enough to actually do it so far.

    • J

      April 12, 2025 at 3:39 pm

      A Little Life? I would say NO don’t do that to yourself, though clearly some people love it. But it’s long and so full of misery and cruelty, I can’t even.

  • Stephany

    April 3, 2025 at 6:27 pm

    This was one of my favorites the year I read it. I started it while I was traveling in Ireland so it really impacted me since I had just been to some of the places mentioned in the book. Such a great story and a remembrance of how scary it was to be LGBT+ just a few decades ago.