The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

This fabulous novel will take me some time to process. It's the story Cyril Avery, a Irishman, born in 1954 to an unmarried woman and adopted by an eccentric couple who raised him. Cyril knows early in his life that he is gay, and his life in Ireland is filled with bigotry and violence. The hypocrisy of many of the Irish people (mostly Catholic, of course) is front and center. 

The author reveals his life story by skipping 7 years in each section which sounds awkward but it works. As we leap from one part of Cyril's story to the next, we catch up with what has happened in each step. Even with all this leaping, the book is well over 500 pages. But worth it.

Somehow this book manages to be funny, clever, tragic and sad. Some of the dialogue is almost too witty and cute, but it's fun to read. And the ending brings this wonderful cast of characters all together. 

I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend. - June

When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzen

When a book is translated into English and it's beautifully written, who should get the credit? The author or the translator? Because it seems it isn't just a matter of throwing the words into Google Translate - there is so much more to it. This book was originally written in Swedish.

This is a wonderful book. It is sad, touching, emotional, lovely. It must be that I'm on a roll with books about elderly gentlemen, and I know few will agree with me, but I prefer this novel to Theo in Golden... although the books differ greatly.

Bo lives alone since his wife has had to move into a memory care facility. He is struggling with normal age issues like balance and muscle weakness, and so his son, Hans, has hired caregivers to come in throughout the day and help him. Most of the book is told in Bo's mind as if he is speaking to his wife. He often brings up old memories or thoughts of her and their life together, and these are constantly interrupted by the present. He keeps one of her scarfs in a jar and opens it whenever he wants to smell her scent. And he finds comfort in caring for his dog. However, Hans feels that he can no longer handle the dog and plans to move it to a family nearby which makes Bo furious.

This book is all about aging and the frustration of having to give up control to children and others to make decisions for us. It's also about regrets and ultimately wanting to make things right with our family and friends before it's too late. 

A nice little touch throughout the novel is there are notes left by the caregivers documenting Bo's activity for the next person who will visit. 

This is one that will stick with me for a while. Highly recommend - June

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

I'm the last among my friends to read this novel. Everyone's been raving about it for months, so I pushed other books aside and was anxious to read this one. It's a lovely story about a kind, generous man who arrives in the southern town of Golden. His background is a mystery but he soon befriends the locals and his kindness is contagious. It isn't until the end that we know who he was and why he chose to live in Golden for a year. 

You know how those first few bites of a sugary cereal can taste really good but after three or four bites your teeth hurt? Terrible analogy, I know, but that's the way I felt reading about Theo. He's this perfectly wonderful man... but after one act of kindness after another, I started to get a little bored. And frustrated with the big "secret" that we'd find out at the end. 

Everyone says that because of all the terrible things going on right now, we all need a little kindness and love. Agree. I'm just not sure I found it here. I guess when it comes to elderly protagonists, I prefer Ove and the woman from The Correspondent. They were more interesting characters. 

Still think you should read it so we can agree/disagree. - June