Name: Heartbreaker
ISBN: 9780008295097

Claudia Dey

‘Devastating and wickedly funny ... I loved it’ Sophie Mackintosh’ ‘A dark star of a book’ Lauren Groff ‘I loved its every page’ Sheila Heti It’s 1985 in The Territory and it always will be.

Heartbreaker

A poignant new novel that combines humour and heartache, from the brilliant mind of Governor General’s Award finalist Claudia Dey Seventeen years after falling from a stolen car into a remote northern town, Billie Jean Fontaine is still an outsider. She may follow the stifling rules of this odd place, but no one will forget that she came from elsewhere. When Billie Jean vanishes one cold October night in her bare feet and track suit with only her truck keys, those closest to her begin a frantic search. Her daughter, Pony, a girl struggling against being a teen in the middle of nowhere; her killer dog to whom she cannot tell a lie; her husband, The Heavy, a man haunted by his past; and the charismatic Supernatural, a teenage boy longing only to be average. Each holding a different piece of the puzzle, they must come together to understand the darkest secrets of their beloved, and lay bare the mysteries of the human heart. With her luminous prose, wry humour and dead-on cultural observations, Claudia Dey has created a storytelling tour de force about what it means to love, no matter the consequences.

Beautifully atmospheric and fantastic world building. Confusing prose sometimes but it added to the general vibe. Hard to review without spoiling - if you can make it through the first 30 pages, you’re in. 

Jess Rez

Jenna

This book is weird. The plot is kind of weird, it's set in a cult (apparently a theme in my recent reading life) that is weird, and the writing is a little weird. The book is divided into three sections. The first is narrated by Pony Fontaine, daughter of Billie Jean Fontaine and "The Heavy". The family lives in "the territory" somewhere very far north and totally detached from the rest of society except for occasional supply shipments paid for by the blood of the territory's teens. Yeah. Billie Jean was an outsider who showed up alone and nearly dead to the territory 17 years ago. When she suddenly takes off and disappears, the residents of the territory look for her. Pony reflects on life up to this point.

The second part of the book is narrated by the family dog, who could apparently communicate with Billie Jean. See what I mean by weird? I actually started liking the writing more in this section. I found the writing in Pony's section to be unnecessarily confusing. Somehow it was more clear when narrated by a dog. The third section is narrated by a boy in the territory, Supernatural. Well, I guess he is a bit older than a boy. He's somewhere between the ages of 17 and 19, I think. I can't remember exactly. 

The book eventually reveals why Billie Jean left. It's a slow build up. I quite liked how everything came together in the end, but again, the whole thing was a weird experience. In a kind of good way? I rated this at three stars in the end. I actually really liked how it all came together. But it was still weird.  If you like cults or writing that is a little out of the ordinary, and stories that aren't entirely straightforward out of the gate, I'd recommend giving this a go. It's certainly unique.

Anne 

Alex Q

Carol

Zoe McKenna

Jessie Bertram

"Set in an isolated town founded decades ago by a charismatic cult leader, Heartbreaker is the story of a mysterious woman who abruptly disappears, and those who try to find her. At the intersection of The Handmaid's Tale and Twin Peaks, this is the wildly imaginative American debut of a prize-winning Canadian author. Why can't a woman be more than one person in a lifetime? It's been months since Billie Jean Fontaine left her bedroom, trapped alone by grief. But one night, out of the blue, she emerges and announces that she's going into town--but she never returns. In their remote northern town, which has been cut off from the world for decades, her husband and daughter undertake a frantic search for the beloved and beautiful Billie Jean. She is the only outsider ever to arrive in this strange town, sixteen years earlier. And now the residents wonder: has Billie Jean become the first person to leave, too? Told from three unforgettable perspectives--her daughter, her dog, and her mysterious friend--Heartbreaker is the electrifying portrait of a woman who has risked everything for freedom and love, and the secrets she leaves in her wake"--

Heartbreaker

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