Liz Moore - Heft

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Unexpectedly enjoyable

I thought this was a terrifically enjoyable book. A tale of an immensely fat, reclusive New Yorker and a slightly troubled young man from a difficult home doesn't sound that alluring because there are so many ways in which it could have been dreadful, but it turned out to be remarkably insightful, compassionate and readable.

It is almost impossible to give an idea of the story without giving away more than I would have wanted to know before starting the book so I won't try, but told in two first-person narratives, this is a novel about loneliness and belonging, family and bereavement, kindness and possibility. Liz Moore shows real insight into the inner lives of her two male narrators and gives them completely convincing voices. They are very different characters, but both are fundamentally good-hearted people with problems. Moore avoids the pitfalls of tedium or sentimentality which could so easily ruin a book like this, and she paints illuminating and compassionate portraits of both characters so that I found myself very bound up with their stories. I was drawn in from the start and, even though it isn't a "suspense" novel, there are secrets to be revealed. It is very well structured and paced, so I became really gripped as things unfolded and it kept me up far too late because I didn't want to stop reading.

Rather against my expectations, I found this a really thoughtful, enjoyable and touching book and I recommend it very warmly.