Yes, yes, yes. I finally found a novel that everybody raves about that I also loved. The Heart’s Invisible Furies made me feel everything, I laughed, I was sad, I was hopeful and then disappointed, I was enraged by the people’s mentalities and I even wanted to punch a couple of the characters in the face, even the main character (and hug him afterwards). In telling this tale of woe, Hajari focuses on the major players, especially Mohammad Ali Jinnah, an uncompromising lawyer who dreamt Pakistan into being, and Jawaharlal Nehru, a protégé of Mohandas Gandhi whose life work was independence from Great Britain. We also spend a good deal of time with Nehru’s deputy, Vallabhbhai Patel; Louis Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India; and Sikh political leader Tara Singh. The ending is absolutely perfect for this kind of story. It is happy in many ways, but it does carry a certain sadness with it. A bittersweetness to round off a life tale full of love, misery, heartache and hope. It was wonderful. I really loved this book. As difficult of a topic as it is, it was written so well that it was incredibly engaging, easy to follow and highly informative. There were times that my eyes widened and my mouth fell open as I heard what happened. The novel tells the story of Lotto and Mathilde Satterwhite. He is the darling of a prosperous Florida family – “Lotto was special. Golden”. She, an apparent “ice princess”, is the survivor of a past about which her husband has only the fuzziest idea beyond it being “sad and dark”, and above all “blank behind her”. The first half of the book offers Lotto’s view of their life together as he rises from charming but failed actor to celebrated playwright, thanks in no small part to Mathilde’s editorial finesse. The second half reveals that Mathilde has, through implacable willpower, transcended circumstances that read like a hotchpotch of Greek tragedy, fable and detective novel. Much of what Lotto takes for granted in his good fortune, it turns out, is due to Mathilde’s ruthless machination, right down to their marriage itself. She genuinely loves him, but she initially set out to win him for mercenary reasons.

I laughed - I cried - I discussed ( while laughing), this with my husband: things like: an ear - a toe - a thumb - a syringe - the scrotum - or even "remembering to comb your hair"..... and "remember where you are and what you've come here to do".....Hajari intersperses the high-level diplomacy with on-the-ground anecdotes, visceral glimpses of the human cost. It is an effective approach, balancing the abstraction of boundary commissions with the real-world consequences. Five stars because omgoodness what a Charlie Parker novel this is! Or should I say two novels? Yes, what Mr. Connolly imagined as a novella - Sisters Strange - and wrote during the early part of the pandemic instead became a short novel! It's here! And followed by The Furies. Two novels in one book! Yay!

And I was just completely taken with all the characters. As with the opening quote, none of them are merely heroes or villains. They are not neat and they make mistakes, sometimes horrendous ones that will challenge your ability to love them, but I, at least, found it easy to forgive them for being so painfully human. What happens toward the end of the New York chapters will come as no surprise, and yet that doesn't make it hurt any less. As the story progressed, there were several big developments. Cyril eventually does find love and is able to live openly as a gay man. However, it was a long, slow journey. Other "big" events along the way, failed to elicit much interest for me. I barely batted an eye as Julian's kidnappers were sending home body parts. That was another clear indication that I just wasn't feeling it. Each word in each sentence is carefully chosen to enhance the imagery, making it easy to imagine the writer's vision, as if viewing from ground zero.Amy’s scheme is outlandishly criminal, while Mathilde’s is mostly just patronising. The good husbands in Victorian novels sheltered their wives from the world’s harshness, but now the roles are reversed. As exaggerated as they are, Amy and Mathilde resemble every working mum who wonders if her husband has any notion of how much effort she puts into the administration of their family life. That includes not just the serious stuff such as the kids’ healthcare and schools, but social labour on everything from birthday celebrations and the coordination of dinner parties to holiday plans. She schedules and organises; he blithely assumes it all just happens. She shakes her head and, in her rare free hours, she curls up with a copy of Fates and Furies. GREAT DISCUSSION BOOK .....BECAUSE YOU'LL miss this novel so much when it ends - you'll be excited to talk about it with other people! I can't wait!!!