The Heart's Invisible Furies

A Novel

By: John Boyne

Narrated by: Stephen Hogan

Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Named Book of the Month Club's Book of the Year, 2017

Selected one of New York Times Readers’ Favorite Books of 2017

Winner of the 2018 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award

From the beloved New York Times best-selling 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 glamourous 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.

©2017 John Boyne (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"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)

"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)

"Narrator Stephen Hogan's performance of the twists and turns of Cyril's struggle is dramatic, life affirming, and inspiring.... It's a coming-of-age tale delivered by Hogan in a sensitive narration. Listeners looking for both hearty laughs and gentle tears will enjoy Cyril's journey." (AudioFile)

Truly wonderful. And then some.

This is one of the most superbly crafted books I've encountered in quite some time. I loved Boyne's work in "The Absolutist" and raved about it to anyone who would listen. I was desperate to discuss that book with someone, anyone, and feel the same about "The Heart's Invisible Furies."

Boyne creates the kind of characters who come and live with you while you're in the book. For the most part, they are all beautifully complex characters – and even when there are obvious personality flaws, this author finds balance and humanity. When they're evil, they are evil. Justice prevails. Stephen Hogan adds to the entire experience with a spot-on narration.

I feel like I made a friend. Cyril Avery has a place in my heart.

Hang in there, it's a good story

This was not my cup of tea in the beginning, but as the story progressed I ended up loving it! Just hang in there and keep listening it's a wonderful book! I really didn't want it to end! The characters are such great people, I feel like I know them.

Best book ever, best of all time

I have never been so moved by or laughed so hard with a story. It is the best book I have ever "read", and I am a voracious, picky, reader. You just have to listen. John Boyne is spectacular; so is the narrator, Stephen Hogan, with his perfect voice(s) and sweet accent(s). I can't praise this book enough. It will be with me for a long time.

Best book since Paul Murray's Skippy Dies

A blend of saga and humor with enough whit to temper the extreme sentimentality. This fiction is stranger than truth, or at least it has more bizarre coincidences that threaten to permanently sink any suspension of disbelief. The narration by Stephen Hogan is perfect.

So much has been written by many other reviewers. If you have any interest in exploring the AIDS epidemic's birth, bigotry against homosexuality, misogyny embedded within Irish Catholic culture, but you also don't want to fall into a deep depression, read this book. The humor keeps you afloat while wading through everything that is essentially wrong with humans.

Wonderful, moving story and the narrator is superb

I bought this on the strength of other ecstatic reviews and must say I completely agree. I can't praise it highly enough -- except maybe by saying it's one of the few novels I'd happily listen to again. I admit I'm a sucker for Irish accents and good acting by a narrator, and this is perhaps the finest performance I've heard in an Audible book. The voice is not just a perfect match for the book's subtlety and sly humor, the narrator is extraordinarily good at parsing between the various characters and making them all come alive distinctly. I found myself laughing out loud (or close to tears) at the dialogue -- and I often wondered if simply reading the printed words would have given me as much pleasure, as well written as the book is. The narrator takes it up to another level altogether. There's a scene where an upper-crust financier hosts a dinner at his home for some middle-class members of the jury that's trying him (yes, ridiculous, but the author makes it utterly believable), and I was in awe at the narrator's ability to jump back and forth between the accents of the street and the drawing room -- just one of many tour de force scenes in the book. This is a coming-of-age tale about boy born out of wedlock, and the arc of his life is so movingly told that I still miss him weeks after I finished listening. If you've read and liked William Boyd's "Any Human Heart," this will create a similar emotional connection. The best novel I've read or heard all year. Absolutely get this book.

Greatness!

Beautiful story! Narration is amazing and it's a book you will listen to in 1 or 2 sittings max. Easy finish!

Wonderful!

Loved this book, laughter, tears.. It's got it all!! It was hard to stop listening, very engaging!

Incredibly satisfying story

This is one of the Best books I have ever read. Satisfying on every level and the readers were particularly good.

Engrossing read

A wonderfully constructed novel balancing history and a fictional story through a persons life time.

Outstanding

If you are very conservative this may not be the book for you. If you are open minded and want to laugh, cry and generally be spell bound- read this book.