Ellie and The Harpmaker (and other heartbreakers)

I started reading Ellie and The Harpmaker last night, and I already know it will be one of my favourite books of 2021! I’ve had several lumps in my throat already, after reading only a few chapters. The lonely desolation of the lead characters is really affecting me. The writing is so beautifully simple and touching that it lulls one into a false sense of security until the lingering words catch one a few sentences later. These are the novels that make reading so worthwhile. Novels like:

And so many others that I will share in another blog post. I love crime novels and psychological thrillers, but the novels of the so-called ordinary life are spellbinding. These novels connect us. I read an article in the newspaper this morning about a man who lost his wife a year ago. He said he never realised how much they chatted. That sentence broke my heart a little because it’s so true; we never know when that last conversation will be. All our lives are heartbreaking in so many ways, and therein lies our humanity and the truest connections. I think that’s why I love the honesty of these heartbreaking novels so much. Sometimes I look at my man friend and I wish he’d just shut up for five minutes. He likes to talk A LOT! Often in great detail and at even greater length about what to me is utterly mundane, such as the details of a new woodworking tool or how horrified he is at shipping prices or the endless French bureaucracy. But then I remember how sad and lonely I would be if he wasn’t here; how much I’d miss him if he were gone. I think of all the people who have lost their nearest and dearest, and I remember to cherish these moments because none of us knows when they will be snatched away from us.