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The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne is a novel that takes place in Ireland from 1945 to 2015. Cyril Avery, the main character, was adopted as a baby and raised by his mother who worked at an orphanage. His life changes when he learns that she was actually pregnant with him out of wedlock and sent away for her “shame” because homosexuality wasn’t accepted back then. This novel explores how social views on homosexuality have changed over time through the experiences of this man’s life. The Kirkus Review summarized it as dark but funny, marred by melodrama but lightened by dialogue.
Cyril’s story begins before he was born. His mother, Catherine Goggin, was banished from her hometown of Goleen after the local priest denounced her for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. The narrator notes that this same priest would later be revealed to have fathered two illegitimate children himself.
Catherine moves to Dublin and finds a job in a teashop. She befriends two gay men who were being beaten up, and she goes into labor during the struggle. As soon as her son is born, she gives him up for adoption. He’s taken in by Charles Avery and his wife Maude, who name him Cyril. Charles is a businessman while Maude writes novels which gives Boyne an opportunity to make fun of critics with satirical dialogue: “There’s something terribly crude about popular books.” They leave Cyril to his own devices at age seven when he forms an intense bond with his friend Julian Woodbead, whom everyone loves despite his sexual maturity that rivals adults’.
Cyril is a young man who develops a crush on his friend, but he doesn’t tell him because it would ruin their friendship. He also meets Catherine Goggin, the owner of a local teahouse. She becomes one of the few people Cyril trusts and feels comfortable coming out to.
Homosexuality is illegal in Ireland, and Cyril must have secret sexual encounters with men while hiding his sexuality from Mary-Margaret. When she becomes suspicious of him, he’s saved by an IRA bomb that topples a statue onto the policeman who was following him. In gratitude, Cyril swears to remain celibate.
In 1973, Cyril is engaged to Julian’s sister Alice. However, on the day of their wedding, Cyril tells Julian that he loves him instead. Furious at this revelation, Julian insists that they go through with the marriage anyway.
Cyril flees to Amsterdam, where homosexuality is legal. He lives openly as a gay man for the first time and falls in love with Bastiaan van der Berg. They informally adopt a son, Ignac. Cyril is happy but feels guilty about hurting those who care about him—Julian, Alice, Mary-Margaret—in his fear of being found out.
Bastiaan is a doctor and medical researcher, so he moves his family to New York City in 1987 to treat the victims of AIDS. Cyril volunteers at Bastiaan’s hospital where he meets Julian, who has AIDS. From Julian, Cyril learns that Liam is his biological son conceived with Alice before Cyril abandoned her. He promises to tell Liam about how Julian died from AIDS.
Cyril and Bastiaan are outside of the hospital. Cyril is upset, so Bastiaan tries to comfort him. This makes two people angry and they attack them both, leaving Cyril injured and Bastiaan dead.
Cyril and Ignac drift around the country, eventually returning to Dublin. There, Cyril reconciles with his wife Alice and meets his son. He cares for his adoptive father Charles as he dies. Ireland legalizes gay marriage. Cyril learns the true identity of Catherine Goggin, along with the story of her birth and how she came to be in an orphanage in Ireland when he was born there.
