M2C Online Bookclub - The Heart Broke In (Part 3)

diagram of a heart by Leonardo da Vinci

'The Heart Broke In' has been described as a moral thriller by Philip Pullman and indeed, I found myself unable to put this book down until I had found out what decision each character had made and what the consequences were for them. The malignant Val Wilding flits in and out of the storyline like the bad fairy at a christening, his motives for seeking revenge and media-wide day of reckoning for those on his hitlist seem rooted in his wife's death but ultimately remain murky and at the end he disappears from view with a flourish of his villains cape. Ritchie tries to change and wants to believe he's able to change but is only capable of self deception and self interest - his (ex)wife Karin remains a mystery to the end, perhaps because Ritchie doesn't really know her himself.
I found the different ways that both Bec and Ritchie remembered their father very interesting, Ritchie arguably had a truer recollection of him than Bec (remember the heron?) and Bec's memory seems more sentimental, at the end of the book she has constructed a scenario that she likes to think may have been true regarding her father's death - it doesn't matter to her whether it's accurate or not, just that it's plausible.
And as for Alec and Bec, well, I found the last chapter immensely satisfying  - I was glad that Bec hadn't been punished for her decision, the memory of which has somehow sustained her in her relationship with Alec as she comes to the realization that ''she was constrained not by some universal structure of good and evil, but by the needs of the ones she loved.''

Other books to read if you've enjoyed The Heart Broke In:

Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski  - Set in Thailand, this gripping page-turner has it all - missionaries, anthroplogists, sexual taboos and murder.

Pure by Andrew Miller - in 1785 a young engineer is charged with demolishing the oldest cemetery in Paris - it's a year that will change his life forever. A vivid and eloquent novel.

M2C Bookclub Competition - win tickets to James Meek event in September

M2C Online Bookclub - The Heart Broke In (Part 2)

Part Two brings together characters who have been circling each other - Alex’s disintegrating relationship with Maria is explored as well as his attraction to Bec. At the start of this section he seems cold, the archetypal atheist scientist, lacking people skills and devoted to his work. It’s only when he's shown with his uncle Harry and meeting Bec for the first time in years we see that he is as capable of romantic and sentimental gestures as the as anyone else.
Themes of mortality and family legacy run through this novel – Alex’s sudden desire and need to have children is to ‘to belong to time’ – a different kind of immortality than the everlasting life promised to the religious faithful. As a scientist Harry refuses to accept his son’s faith and persists in deliberately provoking him at the risk of never seeing his grandchildren.
Bec’s stubbornness as she refuses to take the medication to remove the gregi parasite from her body is a kind of tribute to her father, both the name and her own inclination towards a selfless act, also possibly her guilt over the death of her housekeeper’s son is a factor.
Val’s threat of exposing Ritchie is still hanging over him but it’s hard to see what Bec could possibly do that would be awful enough for Ritchie to betray her.
The secondary characters remain opaque as we never see what they’re thinking. I’d like to know more about Harry’s son, Matthew and his family – he seems defined only by his opposition to his father.

Other books to read if you're enjoying The Heart Broke In:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Compelling non-fiction mix of memoir and science about the incredible contribution one woman's cells made to medicine.

The Humans by Matt Haig. A moving and funny book about what it is to be human - told from the point of view of an alien who has taken over the body of a mathematician.

M2C Bookclub Competition - win tickets to James Meek event in September

M2C Online Bookclub - The Heart Broke In (Part 1)

With the repellent Ritchie Shepherd, James Meek has given us a character we can love to hate  - a sleazy TV producer with an eye for underage girls. Ritchie leads a double life, he has a flat in the city for his liasons and a wife and kids installed in the family home in the countryside. He's managed to draw a line between his two lives and they rarely intersect .
Until now.
It too soon to say but I'm hoping Ritchie gets caught. At the close of Part 1 I thought he was going to be exposed but it looks like the deranged newspapaer editor Val Oatman has some other use for the information he holds - blackmailing to Ritchie to get some dirt on his sister Bec (who's just broken off her engagement to Val)
Meanwhile in Papua New Guinea Bec is fending off the advances of a fellow researcher. This episode is hilarious.
I'm interested in Ritchie's wife Karen  - is she completely unaware of his proclivities? Is she happy to stay at home and look after the kids? Ritchie seems to genuinely care for his children but at the same time sees nothing wrong with sleeping with a fifteen year old (James Meek has written an interesting article for The New York Times On Jimmy Savile & The Heart Broke In).
Short snappy chapters told from alternating characters points of view kept me reading and meant my interest never flagged.

Other books to read if you're enjoying The Heart Broke In:

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen - A funny, touching and clever story of family life in modern America.

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - A spellbinding novel narrated by a host of characters as their lives intersect thfough the years.

M2C Bookclub Competition - win tickets to James Meek event in September

M2C Bookclub - Competition Time

Win tickets for you and your bookclub (max 10 tickets) to see James Meek at this year's M2C festival in September

Our July online bookclub choice is The Heart Broke In by James Meek. If you'd like to win tickets to his M2C event in September (date to be confirmed) then all you have to do is send in a review of The Heart Broke in of not more than 200 words to mountainstosea@dlrcoco.ie by the end of July.