John Boyne’s latest work is gruelling to read, yet honest.
THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES:
WHO IS CYRIL AVERY?
John Boyne
Penguin Random House
By MARGARET BANNISTER
He makes it very clear in this story that growing up as a homosexual boy in Catholic Ireland has been traumatic in many ways. Whether or not it is autobiographical remains mysterious, and judging by the addition to the title of this book, is a deliberate mystery.
It begins with the shaming of a young pregnant woman in a Catholic church before all the congregation by a sadistic priest, later discovered to have two illegitimate children of his own.
The child of this pregnancy is given away to a strange upper-class couple, Charles Avery, and his literary wife Maude. They name him Cyril, but his father constantly reminds him he is not a "real Avery". His life is lonely, they pay him little attention, and perhaps necessarily he becomes introspective. He is sent to boarding school, but even before that realises he is more than ordinarily attracted to a friend, Julien, but cannot, of course, tell him of his feelings.
As Cyril grows into adolescence, his homosexual yearnings become more difficult to manage, and at the same time all the messages about homosexuality are hateful. On one occasion, young Cyril attempts to tell a priest in confession about his thoughts and fantasies, whereupon the priest has a heart attack and dies. This should not be funny, but it is.
On the other hand, Cyril’s sudden recognition that the sex he has experienced is a release, but actually totally lacks any emotional intimacy, is depicted with delicacy, and a deal of sadness. In adulthood, he finds affection in a relationship with an Aids doctor (he does not have Aids himself), but this is sadly ended by a brutal attack which kills his partner.
The scourge of Aids and public attitudes towards sufferers are shown for the heedlessness that they were in Ireland and elsewhere at that time.
A long book, at times gruelling to read yet honest, it does not mince words. The ending is a little protracted, and, dare I say it, a little sugary. But there is never any doubt that this is the writing of a man who has had an extraordinarily difficult and at times traumatic life, but who has managed to reconnect with his birth family and his grandchildren, and to have achieved a measure of peace of mind.
It is also an interesting illustration of the power of developing male sexuality in the young, whatever their sexual inclination.
Margaret Bannister is a retired Dunedin psychotherapist and science teacher.
