Hanya Yanagihara

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015. Shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women's Fiction 2016. Finalist for the National Book Awards 2015. The million copy bestseller, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, is an immensely powerful and heartbreaking novel of brotherly love and the limits of human endurance. When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome – but that will define his life forever.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015

A Little Life

Aina

"I know you are, JB," he said, and he felt a sort of sadness he'd never felt before. Other people had been cruel to him, had made him feel awful, but they hadn't been people he loved, they hadn't been people he had always hoped saw him as someone whole and undamaged. JB had been the first.

And if we are being philosophical — which we today are — we can say that life itself is the axiom of the empty set. It begins in zero and ends in zero. We know that both states exist, but we will not be conscious of either experience: they are states that are necessary parts of life, even as they cannot be experienced as life. We assume the concept of nothingness, but we cannot prove it. But it must exist.

It was impossible to explain to the healthy the logic of the sick, and he didn't have the energy to try.

Are you happy? he once asked Jude (they must have been drunk).

I don’t think happiness is for me, Jude had said at last, as if Willem had been offering him a dish he didn't want to eat. But it’s for you, Willem.

"You won't understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are — not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving — and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad — or good — it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well."

There had been periods in his twenties when he would look at his friends and feel such a pure, deep contentment that he would wish the world around them would simply cease, that none of them would have to move from that moment, when everything was in equilibrium and his affection for them was perfect. But, of course, that was never to be: a beat later, and everything shifted, and the moment quietly vanished.

Fairness is for happy people, for people who have been lucky enough to have lived a life defined more by certainties than by ambiguities. Right and wrong, however, are for — well, not unhappy people, maybe, but scarred people; scared people.

I have never been one of those people — I know you aren't, either — who feels that the love one has for a child is somehow a superior love, one more meaningful, more significant, and grander than any other. I didn't feel that before Jacob, and I didn't feel that after. But it is a singular love, because it is a love whose foundation is not physical attraction, or pleasure, or intellect, but fear. You have never known fear until you have a child, and maybe that is what tricks us into thinking that it is more magnificent, because the fear itself is more magnificent. Every day, your first thought is not “I love him" but "How is he?" The world, overnight, rearranges itself into an obstacle course of terrors.

He experienced the singular pleasure of watching people he loved fall in love with other people he loved.

"One thing I've learned," she said, “you have to talk about these things while they're fresh. Or you’ll never talk about them. I'm going to teach you how to talk about them, because it's going to get harder and harder the longer you wait, and it's going to fester inside you, and you're always going to think you're to blame. You'll be wrong, of course, but you'll always think it."

But what was happiness but an extravagance, an impossible state to maintain, partly because it was so difficult to articulate? He couldn't remember being a child and being able to define happiness: there was only misery, or fear, and the absence of misery or fear, and the latter state was all he had needed or wanted.

But this was part of the deal when you were friends with Jude: he knew it, Andy knew it, they all knew it. You let things slide that your instincts told you not to, you scooted around the edges of your suspicions. You understood that proof of your friendship lay in keeping your distance, in accepting what was told you, in turning and walking away when the door was shut in your face instead of trying to force it open again.

He couldn't ask her how she felt, because nothing she said would be enough. He wanted to scream at his parents, to hit them, to elicit from them something — some melting into grief, some loss of composure, some recognition that something large had happened, that in Hemming's death they had lost something vital and necessary to their lives. He didn't care if they really felt that way or not: he just needed them to say it, he needed to feel that something lay beneath their imperturbable calm, that somewhere within them ran a thin stream of quick, cool water, teeming with delicate lives, minnows and grasses and tiny white flowers, all tender and easily wounded and so vulnerable you couldn't see them without aching for them.

He regretted his offer the instant he made it, for the truth was that Jude was his favorite of the three of them to paint: He was the most beautiful of them, with the most interesting face and the most unusual coloring, and he was the shyest, and so pictures of him always felt more precious than ones of the others.

Storm

"Jude," Harold says to him, quietly. "My poor Jude. My poor sweet- heart." And with that, he starts to cry, for no one has ever called him Sweetheart, not since Brother Luke…"My sweetheart," Harold says again, and he wants him to stop: he wants him to never stop. "My baby." And he cries and cries, cries for everything he has been, for everything he might have been, for every old hurt, for every old happiness, cries for the shame and joy of finally getting to be a child, with all of a child's whims and wants and insecurities, for the privilege of behaving badly and being forgiven, for the luxury of tendernesses, of fondnesses, of served a meal and being made to eat it, for the ability, at last, at last, of believing a parent's reassurances, of believing that to someone he is special despite all his mistakes and hatefulness, because of all his mistakes and hatefulness. It ends with Julia finally going to the kitchen and making another sandwich; it ends with him eating it, truly hungry for the first time in months; it ends with him spending the night in the extra bedroom, with Harold and Julia kissing him good night; it ends with him wondering if maybe time really is going to loop back upon itself after all, except in this rendering, he will have Julia and Harold as parents from the beginning, and who knows what he will be, only that he will be better, that he will be healthier. that he will be kinder, that he won't feel the need to struggle so hard against his own life.

…when he had last told this story, he was with someone who had seen him the way no one had since Ana, with someone who had managed to see past who he was, and yet see him completely as well.

…he knew that after this incident Harold would either become distant from him or would draw closer still. And because he didn't know which would happen, he found himself hoping—as he never had before and never would again—that this episode would never end, that Harold's song would never finish, that he would never have to learn what followed it.

Have you all forgotten? he yearns to ask. Have you forgotten him? Have you forgotten how much I need him? Have you forgotten I don't know how to be alive without him? Who can teach me? Who can tell me what I should do now?

How has he forgotten so completely who he was when he was with Willem? It is as if that person died along with Willem, and what he is left with is his elemental self, someone he has never liked.

…he can't do it again; he can't live once more through those fifteen years, those fifteen years whose half-life have been so long and so resonant, that have determined everything he has become and done.

He feels, as he increasingly does, that his life is something that has happened to him…

He cheats every time he lets the voice whisper to him, unbidden, It won't be long now, it won't be long.

The room became quiet, and for a few seconds, he and Willem had looked at each other across the table, and the rest of the people, the apartment itself, fell away: they were two people on two chairs, and around them was nothingness.

…he goes slowly to the wall behind the painting and sees its title—Willem Listening to Jude Tell a Story, Greene Street—and he feels his breath abandon him…

if you value your mental health, avoid this book. if you’re like me and you don’t, please read it because it has broken me as a human (in a good way?). also genuinely all the trigger warnings needed

for a sappy soul, i did not cry but my heart wrenched a tad bit. this was a begrudgingly slow plot but i loved every part of it. seth was right, if we are lucky we find maybe 3 or 4 life qualities in someone and we get to call them our partner. and that struck a chord deep within me. i was telling a friend that we get to choose who loves us & if we’re worthy of it and he told me why do we get to decide that? and he was right, there is enough love to go around

Hard book to read. But was so well thought out. Was honestly not expecting Jude to die. I thought the heartbreak would be over after Willem and malcholms deaths but nope. Willem and Jude are hopefully together. Harold at the end broke me. That man deserves all the happiness in the world 

Katie Roberts

I will have to say it's well-written but I got tired of it near the end. It can get repetitive, and it's very, very, long. 

I also didn't cry, but that's more on me than on the book.

Otherwise, I thought it painted a nice picture of male companionship. The title drop was was also masterfully executed, and quite unforgettable. Keep your eyes peeled for it, that's all I ask of you.

Throckmorton

I will have to say it's well-written but I got tired of it near the end. It can get repetitive, and it's very, very, long. 

I also didn't cry, but that's more on me than on the book.

Otherwise, I thought it painted a nice picture of male companionship. The title drop was was also masterfully executed, and quite unforgettable. Keep your eyes peeled for it, that's all I ask of you.

I went in thinking “I never cry at books. Everyone’s being dramatic.”

Dearest gentle reader - they are not being dramatic. 

I am missing characters as if they existed. Just a beautiful story of friendship, pain, healing, and loss. Please, please pick it up. 

Liv N.

Haunting. Beautiful. Raw.

I went in thinking “I never cry at books. Everyone’s being dramatic.”

Dearest gentle reader - they are not being dramatic. 

I am missing characters as if they existed. Just a beautiful story of friendship, pain, healing, and loss. Please, please pick it up. 

watched the stage play and i do not need to emotionally go through that again goodbye

felicity hu

The best and worst book there ever was or will be. Took me months to finish it. It is a literary equivalent of someone stabbing you with a knife and twisting it and twisting it. 

Jovana Gjekanovikj 

The best and worst book there ever was or will be. Took me months to finish it. It is a literary equivalent of someone stabbing you with a knife and twisting it and twisting it. 

Best of luck to anyone who reads it.

Degersiz Bir Hayat

no one can save a person who thinks  he/she doesn't deserve to be saved 

burcu yigit

I bought this book in June and had started reading it immediately. I love Hanya’s style of writing; easy to follow yet so much depth and details… but this wasn’t an easy read at all. 

I had already known that this book is going to be a slow, sad, and depressing read. But, I did not imagine it to break my heart into a gazillion pieces. I remember a friend mentioning that I must be so happy and that my life must be so perfect to want to torture my self reading this book. I also remember a friend warning me to not read at least the last 100 pages in public…

I read this book on the daily when commuting and over the weekends. I think emotions started to flood in when I was closer to a third of the book. That’s when I realised I really need to stop reading it in public because there were times on the train when I really had to stop my tears from falling. And so, I continued reading it at home in my own time…

I went through so many emotions reading this book - more sadness than happiness but strangely, some comfort too. There are some moments in this book that made me reflect and think deeply about the relationships in my life - with my partner, my family, and my friends. I also thought deeply about adulthood and how easy it is for us to get consumed by the idea of success and how fast we want to have it. I was comforted with the fact that when these characters were in their late twenties, they were just starting out… with careers, with friendships, with relationships - with life in general.

I finished reading this book just half an hour ago. I had prepared myself for the worst but never have I imagined that I would literally hang on to every single written word and bawled my eyes out to this book - I was inconsolable (I still am). I felt the comfort, the pain, the peace, the anger, the frustration - every single emotions known to me. I never think myself of someone that’s imaginative but this book has allowed me to depict and see clearly every single scene in every single page and chapter. It was as if I was running a movie in my head. 

I know that this is the type of book that I’ll never read again - not that i don’t want to but I don’t think that I can ever again. I’m truly and genuinely heartbroken by this piece. How can something so painful be so beautiful? How can something so violent be so peaceful? How can something so chaotic be so comforting? 

Anyways, highly recommend if you want to torture yourself and seep into the darkness of depression. Heavy read but easy to follow. Not suitable to be read in public. 

Ariariari

I bought this book in June and had started reading it immediately. I love Hanya’s style of writing; easy to follow yet so much depth and details… but this wasn’t an easy read at all. 

I had already known that this book is going to be a slow, sad, and depressing read. But, I did not imagine it to break my heart into a gazillion pieces. I remember a friend mentioning that I must be so happy and that my life must be so perfect to want to torture my self reading this book. I also remember a friend warning me to not read at least the last 100 pages in public…

I read this book on the daily when commuting and over the weekends. I think emotions started to flood in when I was closer to a third of the book. That’s when I realised I really need to stop reading it in public because there were times on the train when I really had to stop my tears from falling. And so, I continued reading it at home in my own time…

I went through so many emotions reading this book - more sadness than happiness but strangely, some comfort too. There are some moments in this book that made me reflect and think deeply about the relationships in my life - with my partner, my family, and my friends. I also thought deeply about adulthood and how easy it is for us to get consumed by the idea of success and how fast we want to have it. I was comforted with the fact that when these characters were in their late twenties, they were just starting out… with careers, with friendships, with relationships - with life in general.

I finished reading this book just half an hour ago. I had prepared myself for the worst but never have I imagined that I would literally hang on to every single written word and bawled my eyes out to this book - I was inconsolable (I still am). I felt the comfort, the pain, the peace, the anger, the frustration - every single emotions known to me. I never think myself of someone that’s imaginative but this book has allowed me to depict and see clearly every single scene in every single page and chapter. It was as if I was running a movie in my head. 

I know that this is the type of book that I’ll never read again - not that i don’t want to but I don’t think that I can ever again. I’m truly and genuinely heartbroken by this piece. How can something so painful be so beautiful? How can something so violent be so peaceful? How can something so chaotic be so comforting? 

Anyways, highly recommend if you want to torture yourself and seep into the darkness of depression. Heavy read but easy to follow. Not suitable to be read in public. 

Tan poca vida

elinabel hidalgo 

My therapist is going to be thrilled with the amount of material this book has provided for our sessions.

Indi

Oh god what to say about this masterpiece, I loved every single one of them, I felt like I was living life, enjoying the moments, laughing with them, crying for something with them. I was with all of them, I was one of the group. Truly something astonishing in my opinion 

Aris 

so that was a long painful book... i feel like the tears have left permanent scars on my face

Eylül Şimşek

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015 "Astonishing and unsettling ... A masterwork" San Francisco Chronicle "A book that demands to be read." Wall Street Journal The million copy bestseller, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, is an immensely powerful and heartbreaking novel of brotherly love and the limits of human endurance. When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome - but that will define his life forever. ACCLAIM FOR A LITTLE LIFE Shortlisted for the Baileys Prize for Women's Fiction 2016 Winner of The Kirkus Prize 2015 Finalist for the National Book Awards 2015 "Transporting . . . A Little Life is not to be missed." Evening Standard "The first must-read novel of the year" Kirkus "A singularly profound and moving work . . . It's not often that you read a book of this length and find yourself thinking "I wish it was longer" but Yanagihara takes you so deeply into the lives and minds of these characters that you struggle to leave them behind." The Times "Makes for near-hypnotically compelling reading, a vivid, hyperreal portrait of human existence that demands intense emotional investment . . . An astonishing achievement: a novel of grand drama and sentiment, but it's a canvas Yanagihara has painted with delicate, subtle brushstrokes." Independent "Utterly compelling . . . quite an extraordinary novel. It is impossible to put down . . . And it is almost impossible to forget." Daily Express

Not sure if words can describe what reading this felt like. I had to put down the book, pause and breathe, at several times. From fear, anticipation, happiness and heartbreak. You might love this book or hate it. I loved its depictions of grief, but more importantly, of love with friendship at its core. It’s hopeful and devastating. It’s like having a raw exposed nerve, feeling the characters so viscerally. I liked that the story followed the characters through decades and the narrative references itself in a way that is rewarding to the reader and realistic/true-to-life. 

(Please check the content warnings before reading!) 

Xiang

Not sure if words can describe what reading this felt like. I had to put down the book, pause and breathe, at several times. From fear, anticipation, happiness and heartbreak. You might love this book or hate it. I loved its depictions of grief, but more importantly, of love with friendship at its core. It’s hopeful and devastating. It’s like having a raw exposed nerve, feeling the characters so viscerally. I liked that the story followed the characters through decades and the narrative references itself in a way that is rewarding to the reader and realistic/true-to-life. 

(Please check the content warnings before reading!) 

emotionally- i would only recommend this to ppl i hate 

Keila Rico 

literarily- a masterpiece 

emotionally- i would only recommend this to ppl i hate 

Denise 

it was hard reading the book, yet at other times i couldnt stop. i enjoyed that the book solely focuses on the group’s friendships without the worldly affairs seeping in, and i enjoyed their friendship through the years. my heart aches for jude and what he went through; at the same time i am horrified; traumatised, and i dont even dare to envision what he went through, and the strength of character to keep going. 

on hindsight, i do wish to have more insight into other characters’ plausible reasons to love him. or is there a reason needed to love someone? maybe this book is trying to tell me—you just do. no questions asked.

there are books you pick up and enjoy, or dislike, but this book—this book will be unforgettable.

Kirsten Kim

never felt physical pain in my heart from a book

In this reread l, I learn there is an ugly arrogance in deciding who gets to love me and if I deserve it. Ofc I cried 

Mira <3

Ghofran Mustafa 

I don't even have the words to say how reading this made me feel..

Anna 

2,5*
....
já přesně nevím, co si o té knize mám myslet. chápu, proč se lidem líbí, ty postavy jsou strašně dobře napsané (edit: teď přemýšlím nad tím, jestli to je opravdu tak, když se za 30 let, co jsme je sledovali, vlastně vůbec nezměnili. to mě na tom taky strašně štvalo. jb se pořád choval jako dítě, Jude jako chudák, kterej se utápí ve smutku a přitom má pomoc na dosah ruky celých 800 stran,...), storytelling je vynikající, člověk to čte rychle, i když to má tolik stran a v podstatě se tam nic tak zajímavého neděje.
ale bohužel mi přijde, že ironicky ty momenty, na který jsme v tý knize všichni čekali, tomu to kouzlo ubírají. ta traumata, o kterých se tam mluví, mi nesedla. což je strašně zvláštní vůbec o traumatech říct. přijde mi, že autorka naschvál napsala to nejhorší, co se může stát, včetně např. vymyšlené nemoci, jen aby mohla popsat její extrémně bolestivý průběh. postavám dala temnou minulost, tak moc temnou, že se ptám, zda tohle vůbec někdo mohl prožít. myslím, že méně je někdy více. v jedné knize toho prostě bylo až moc a z děje mně to vytrhávalo, spíš než aby mě to tam vtáhlo.
vadila mi i třeba jména postav, u kterých jsem se vždycky musela smát (karma, dr. constructor, citizen). a ten konec. já nevím, jestli to bylo nutný. jestli to nebylo prostě trauma porno a jestli se autorka nebála toho, že kdyby to dopadlo jinak, lidi by z toho nebyli tak v háji. nedokážu na to teď mít nějaký sjednocený názor.
ale to je jedno z největších plus u té knihy. že vlastně nevím, co si myslet. že musím přemýšlet, že nikdy asi nenajdu dobrou nebo špatnou odpověď.
.
proto hodnotím 3,5 a počítám s tím, že za pár let si to přečtu znovu. a třeba se můj pohled na mnoho věcí změní, a já tam pochopím mnohem víc věcí, které mi teď přijdou hloupé. a třeba ne.
jsem ráda, že jsem si knihu přečetla, nerozumím ale úplně tomu, že nikdo nemá podobné pocity, jako já. nebo aspoň ne tolik lidí.
.
edit 2: po zhlédnutí několika video esejí na tuto knihu jsem přesvědčena o tom, že autorka má nějakej fetiš popisovat queer postavy v utrpení. má to tak ve všech svých knihách. navíc v rozhovorech otevřeně říkala, že nevěří v terapii a že občas je lepší, když se člověk vzdá. tím u mě kniha klesla ještě víc. jude could've been saved. zabránila mu v tom však sama autorka, protože už od první strany věděla, jak chce, aby skončil. a nenechala mu prostor pro to, se vyléčit. a ty věci, co se mu staly, jsou fakt extrémně přetažený za vlasy. tam, kde jsem měla plakat, jsem se smála.
knize dávám 2,5 za snahu a za to, že se to četlo rychle, i když se tam skoro nic nedělo.

Kath

It took me almost 3 weeks (March 21–April 7, 2024) to finish this book. The author did an excellent job when it comes to making her readers visualize what's happening, which is why it becomes a painful read—really devastating. This book makes me feel so frustrated with the characters, especially Jude, during the time when Willem wanted him to be more vocal and honest about his thoughts and feelings. But then I will always go back to Jude's reasons for being so reserved. 
The story is about 4 men who became friends since they were in college and one of them—Jude—was SA since he was 8—by the brothers (and a priest) from the monastery—and was used many times by Brother Luke (and many other guys).
This novel made me cry halfway through the story and on the last few pages of the book. I would give this novel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I'd give it a five if the author spared at least either Willem or Jude from death 🥲. Overall, I loved the book, and I became so attached to the characters—Jude, Malcholm, JB, and Willem—that I'd want to give them a hug.

it has been 8 hours since i finished this book and i honestly feel numb. never in my life i ever cried over a book, but this book has sucessfully made me cry for an hour straight.

i think everyone would agree with me that the universe was extremely cruel towards Jude. he carried those pains, nightmares, and traumas for his whole life. even when he left a letter to Harold before he died, Harold was right, "he died thinking he owed us an apology". he spent all his life apologising for something he shouldn't take blame for. but i totally understand him, even though sometimes i felt annoyed by his behaviour; when he didn't want to seek for professional helps (i honestly felt bad for Andy at that moment) or when he acted like nothing happened, he said that he can do it by himself when in fact he really needed help. but, like i said before, i understand him. one thing i wish the most is i wish he knew how much people loved him. but.. the world was just so cruel to him so he couldn't feel that..

i also amazed by Willem's affection toward Jude. i mean, i'd never have that amount of capability to love someone so dearly. he could have leave Jude, but instead, he chose to stay until the end, which was wholesome.. maybe if he didn't leave too soon, maybe Jude would still there with him.. 

i'd like to read more about their friendship: Jude, Willem, Malcolm, and JB. i feel like the author didn't write much about them (before anyone comes at me, i know they've been mentioned multiple times, but i still want to read more about their stories together). 

to conclude, "A Little Life" is such an amazing book, it's so beautifully written despite how heart-wrenching it is. i definitely gave it as 5/5, but i don't recommend this book to anyone lol /jk. i mean, yes, this book is not for everyone. so please PLEASE be ware of the trigger warnings beforehand and read at your own risk. good luck!

it has been 8 hours since i finished this book and i honestly feel numb. never in my life i ever cried over a book, but this book has sucessfully made me cry for an hour straight.

i think everyone would agree with me that the universe was extremely cruel towards Jude. he carried those pains, nightmares, and traumas for his whole life. even when he left a letter to Harold before he died, Harold was right, "he died thinking he owed us an apology". he spent all his life apologising for something he shouldn't take blame for. but i totally understand him, even though sometimes i felt annoyed by his behaviour; when he didn't want to seek for professional helps (i honestly felt bad for Andy at that moment) or when he acted like nothing happened, he said that he can do it by himself when in fact he really needed help. but, like i said before, i understand him. one thing i wish the most is i wish he knew how much people loved him. but.. the world was just so cruel to him so he couldn't feel that..

i also amazed by Willem's affection toward Jude. i mean, i'd never have that amount of capability to love someone so dearly. he could have leave Jude, but instead, he chose to stay until the end, which was wholesome.. maybe if he didn't leave too soon, maybe Jude would still there with him.. 

i'd like to read more about their friendship: Jude, Willem, Malcolm, and JB. i feel like the author didn't write much about them (before anyone comes at me, i know they've been mentioned multiple times, but i still want to read more about their stories together). 

to conclude, "A Little Life" is such an amazing book, it's so beautifully written despite how heart-wrenching it is. i definitely gave it as 5/5, but i don't recommend this book to anyone lol /jk. i mean, yes, this book is not for everyone. so please PLEASE be ware of the trigger warnings beforehand and read at your own risk. good luck!

A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.

Mathieu Schwab

Left me sobbing uncontrollably on my bedroom floor for ten minutes. 10/10 would recommend.

A Little Life Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2015

Reviews

Highlights