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connorscottgardner 's review for:
Open, Heaven
by Seán Hewitt
It's hard to articulate exactly what about this book got under my skin and stayed there, refusing to let go of me.
James is young, gay, and longs to escape the quiet country village he calls home. But he is too young to leave, and anyway his family needs him. Lonely and out of place he drifts through each day in the knowledge that he doesn't belong. Then Luke arrives. A little older, but also out of place in his own way. He has been sent to live on a farm with his aunt and uncle as his mother has left and his father is in prison. That summer, Luke and James meet. Over the next year they become part of one another's lives, and James falls in love in the intense, agonising way you do when it is the first time.
In the present, James returns to the village for a day. Just to look around. Just to be there. To sit with the destruction that this single year set in motion.
This is a masterful piece of work. Although it is short, this book leaves you shattered at the end, because every word of it feels so real. From the vivid description of an ordinary village to the wonder and pain of first love. It isn't a grand, hopeful story of finding a lost love or putting your life back together. It is raw and sad and wistful. I read it in less than a day because once I started I couldn't stop. I had to know, had to understand everything that had happened between these two people. What a book.
It is such a privilege to read a book like this. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
James is young, gay, and longs to escape the quiet country village he calls home. But he is too young to leave, and anyway his family needs him. Lonely and out of place he drifts through each day in the knowledge that he doesn't belong. Then Luke arrives. A little older, but also out of place in his own way. He has been sent to live on a farm with his aunt and uncle as his mother has left and his father is in prison. That summer, Luke and James meet. Over the next year they become part of one another's lives, and James falls in love in the intense, agonising way you do when it is the first time.
In the present, James returns to the village for a day. Just to look around. Just to be there. To sit with the destruction that this single year set in motion.
This is a masterful piece of work. Although it is short, this book leaves you shattered at the end, because every word of it feels so real. From the vivid description of an ordinary village to the wonder and pain of first love. It isn't a grand, hopeful story of finding a lost love or putting your life back together. It is raw and sad and wistful. I read it in less than a day because once I started I couldn't stop. I had to know, had to understand everything that had happened between these two people. What a book.
It is such a privilege to read a book like this. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.