Benedict Wells

The international bestseller, translated by the award-winning translator of The Tobacconist, Charlotte Collins Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature 'Original and captivating . . . its quiet charm in straightforward prose belies its sharp insight into the human condition' Stylist 'It is impossible to look away from it' Guardian 'Dazzling' John Irving *************** I've known Death a long time but now Death knows me. When their idyllic childhood is shattered by the sudden death of their parents, siblings Marty, Liz and Jules are sent to a bleak state boarding school. Once there, the orphans' lives change tracks: Marty throws himself into academic life; Liz is drawn to dark forms of escapism; and Jules transforms from a vivacious child to a withdrawn teenager. The only one who can bring him out of his shell is his mysterious classmate Alva, who hides a dark past of her own, but despite their obvious love for one another, the two leave school on separate paths. Years later, just as it seems that they can make amends for time wasted, the past catches up with them, and fate - or chance - will once again alter the course of a life. Told through the fractured lives of the siblings, The End of Loneliness is a heartfelt, enriching novel about loss and loneliness, family and love. *************** 'This novel has been rightfully described as something of a masterpiece. One thing is for sure - it is not easily forgotten' Sunday Post 'Beautifully rendered: moving and wise, occasionally timeless . . . when Wells most needs to be sophisticated, he is' Irish Times 'A superbly insightful story' BookRiot

The Dazzling International Bestseller

The End of Loneliness

From internationally bestselling author Benedict Wells, a sweeping, heartbreaking novel of friendship, memory, and the lives we never get to live "[D]azzling storytelling...The End of Loneliness is both affecting and accomplished -- and eternal."--John Irving At eleven years old, Jules Moreau loses his parents in a tragic accident, and in an instant, his childhood is shattered. Leaving a comfortable home in Munich and holidays in the south of France far behind, he and his siblings, Marty and Liz, are enrolled in a bleak boarding school, where the trio begin to lose each other, as well as themselves. Marty throws himself into academic life; Liz is drawn to dark forms of escapism; and Jules, though once vivacious and fearless, turns inward, becoming a ghost of his former self...until he meets Alva. Shy, intelligent, and enigmatic, and concealing a dark childhood of her own, Alva pulls Jules out of his shell and the two bond over books and writing, always with an unspoken understanding of the other's pain. Eight years later, at the precipice of their friendship becoming more, Alva abruptly turns her back, and the two leave school on separate paths. As they enter adulthood, Jules, Marty, and Liz, still strangers to one another, struggle to contend with who they are becoming. Jules is adrift, growing into a directionless young man, anchored only by two desires: to be a writer, and to have Alva back in his life. It isn't until Liz hits rock bottom that the three siblings finally find their footing as a family, and Jules finds the nerve to reach out to Alva -- fifteen years after they last spoke. Invited by Alva to join her and her husband, an esteemed author, at their home in Switzerland, Jules finds his way back to his own writing, and to his closest friend. As life begins to fall into place, just as it seems that they can make amends for time wasted, the past catches up with them, and fate -- or chance -- once again intervenes. A kaleidoscopic and heartfelt family saga, as well as a deeply felt meditation on the power of memory, The End of Loneliness explores the invisible forces and currents that can change our lives in an instant, and asks us all to consider, If you spend all your life running in the wrong direction, could it be the right one after all?

bianca

We contemplate the star-spangled sky. I am filled with a profound sense of security: for the first time, I find the indifference of space comforting.

It doesn’t happen as often anymore that images of the past reach out and clutch at me, but when they do I’m always surprised by how the light of memory makes particular moments shine brightly. An ordinary evening at boarding school is transformed, in retrospect, into a beautiful experience. I see myself sitting with my classmates by the lake; we’re having a drink, teasing one of our number, picturing what the future holds. Now, though, my memory moves me closer to the others than was in fact the case, lovingly placing me right at the heart of the action. Suddenly I am laughing lightheartedly with my classmates. I know that there were very different moments, too, yet I can feel that, back then, I must have been content. Memory is a patient gardener, and over the years the tiny seed I planted in my head that evening at school has grown into a marvelous memory.

From the moment we’re born we’re on the Titanic. What I’m trying to say is: we’re going down, we won’t survive this, it’s already been decided. Nothing can change that. But we can choose whether we’re going to run around screaming in panic, or whether we’re like the musicians who play on, bravely and with dignity, although the ship is sinking.

I had the feeling that since the death of my parents I’d been leading another life—the wrong life. Even more than my siblings, I wondered to what extent the events of my childhood and adolescence had defined me, and it was only very late that I understood that I myself am the sole architect of my existence. This is what I am when I allow my past to influence me, and, conversely, just as much when I resist it. And all I have to do is think of the moments with [her] and my children in order to understand that this other life, the one in which I have now left such clear traces, cannot be wrong anymore.

I see myself in this boy so clearly it hurts.

What if there’s no such thing as time? If everything we experience is eternal, and it’s not time that passes us by, but we ourselves that pass by the things we experience? I often ask myself this. It would mean that while our perspective would change and we would distance ourselves from treasured memories, they would still be there, and if we could go back we would still find them in the same place. Like leafing through a book backward, perhaps even back to the beginning. My father would eternally go for evening walks with me in the park, and [she] and I would be perpetually captured on our trip to Italy, sitting in the car at night and driving toward a future full of hope. I try to console myself with this thought, but I can’t feel it yet. And I can only believe what I feel.

But then I had to open my eyes again and face what was to come. That which could not be changed.

I want to be wherever you are, and that is—reality.

Because in a billion years, when everything’s gone and forgotten, when time has erased everything and there’s no proof anymore of anything whatsoever, what reality was will be irrelevant. Perhaps then the stories I invented in my head will have been just as real and unreal as what people have called reality.

“Perhaps once in your life you should hold on to something until the end, instead of always moving on.”

“But there’s no point in living like that. Everything’s over so quickly and you can’t hold on to anything. All you can do is be.”

The question is, what wouldn’t be different? What would be the immutable part of you? The bit that would stay the same in every life, no matter what course it took. Are there elements in us that survive everything?

Why aren’t I happy? I love you, I love [them]. I love all that we have. But sometimes it’s as if it’s not enough, as if nothing will ever be enough. Then all I want to do is go away and never come back, and I don’t know why.

the reason I was always reading was simply to escape, to let myself be comforted by a few sentences or a story.

I was hoping again, just as I’d hoped at fifteen. As I’d hoped at thirty. At the same time, I sensed that I needed to finally put this story behind me if I wasn’t to spend my whole life chasing after a ghost.

You alone are responsible for yourself and your life. And if you just do what you’ve always done, you’ll just get what you’ve always got.

it dawned on me that after this evening we wouldn’t see each other again. Because my time with her was unquestionably in the past, and because I couldn’t bear that.

For a moment I couldn’t breathe; I stared at my hands and everything seemed to slow down. It was only now that I realized I’d never intended to take this last night train, that I didn’t want to go back at all, ever.

We looked at each other, feeling that we had said everything now, except the things we were determined not to reveal.

I almost wanted to tell her that I’d understood too late, back then, that I loved her;

“This constantly being alone is killing me.”

“Yes, but the antidote to loneliness isn’t just being around random people indiscriminately, the antidote to loneliness is emotional security.”

We sat in silence. The initial excitement of seeing each other again had evaporated; it was all so formal, so forced. For a moment I felt as if our real selves were far away, and we’d sent two negotiators to the bar who weren’t authorized to talk about the really important things.

At home, silence awaited me, a sound I’d been familiar with for years. How I had come to loathe this hermit-like existence, this inability to participate in life. Always just dreaming, never truly awake. Look at you, I thought: why do you so often long for solitude in company when you can scarcely bear to be alone anymore?

would it really be better if this world didn’t exist at all? Instead, we live, make art, love, observe, suffer, laugh and are happy. We all exist in a million different ways so that there is no void, and the price we pay for that is death.

how strange it was that you saw people every day for years and then never again

On love, loss, grief, and how these influence the people we grow up to be… the way we see ourselves and the way we live our lives. The first 80% of the book had such a good buildup that by the last 20% I was just wrecked. What a beautiful and moving book… 🥺

armoni mayes

Easy five star read for me. The writing was brilliant and poignant, the story itself was captivating and heartbreaking. 

This novel follows the life of Jules, who struggles with loss and loneliness after the deaths of his parents. Through a series of reflections on his past, Jules learns to come to terms with his grief and find solace in the connections he forms with others, especially his older siblings Liz and Marty. Ultimately, he finds healing through the bonds he forms with others, discovering that love and connection can help him overcome the loneliness that has haunted him for so long. 

My favorite part of this novel was exploring the sibling relationships after they all experienced the shared trauma of losing their parents. Due to their different ages and of course being different individuals, it was interesting to observe how they all processed grief and supported one another. There is also some romance, friends to lovers in this novel but that wasn’t the main selling point for me.

Elisavet Rozaki 

𓆨

the writing is so good that's why i was so intrigued but the story is just...meh
and i shouldn't compare but i feel like that this is just another "a little life" but like the not-so-good one

i think this was an incredibly well written book. the character’s emotions really resonated with me. love is beautiful. life is incredible. and memory is everything. 

ameera

The international bestseller, translated by the award-winning translator of The Tobacconist, Charlotte Collins Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature 'Original and captivating . . . its quiet charm in straightforward prose belies its sharp insight into the human condition' Stylist 'It is impossible to look away from it' The Guardian 'Dazzling' John Irving *************** I've known Death a long time but now Death knows me. When their idyllic childhood is shattered by the sudden death of their parents, siblings Marty, Liz and Jules are sent to a bleak state boarding school. Once there, the orphans' lives change tracks: Marty throws himself into academic life; Liz is drawn to dark forms of escapism; and Jules transforms from a vivacious child to a withdrawn teenager. The only one who can bring him out of his shell is his mysterious classmate Alva, who hides a dark past of her own, but despite their obvious love for one another, the two leave school on separate paths. Years later, just as it seems that they can make amends for time wasted, the past catches up with them, and fate - or chance - will once again alter the course of a life. Told through the fractured lives of the siblings, The End of Loneliness is a heartfelt, enriching novel about loss and loneliness, family and love. *************** 'This novel has been rightfully described as something of a masterpiece. One thing is for sure - it is not easily forgotten' Sunday Post 'A superbly insightful story' BookRiot

Syahla Aurel

How I had come to loathe this hermit-like existence, this inability to participate in life. Always just dreaming, never truly awake. Look at you I thought: why do you so often long for solitude in company when you can scarcely bear to be alone any more?

Although this book was quite well written, I must say that the middle parts are rather boring. Additionally, I don't particularly like how the female characters were portrayed; notably Liz, Alva, and Jule's mother, it seems like the author was trying too hard to make them "complex"

lexie

this book is depressing but i loved it. I felt jules loneliness through out the time where he was just a boy, he was afraid to be lonely i guess and his constant stories about his parents and how much he miss them and Liz, Marty and Alva. I love all the characters.

charisa

sped through this in an afternoon! this novel is marketed most prominently as a romantic love story—and sure, it is, but i found the familial relationships the most compelling. i could read pages and pages about the dynamic between jules, marty, and liz: their puerile bickering, unabashed play even as adults, and angst that so familiarly besets sibling relationships where personalities burn and clash brightly—all of it. there were also some really precious moments depicting parent-child relationships; one of the final scenes in which jules is demonstrating "fearlessness" to vincent had me crying all over my couch. "i will plant this scene in my son, and hopefully in a few years it will germinate, and he will lose a little piece of his fear forever." ...BWAHHH 

knocked off a star because there was quite a lot of tragedy going on, in a way that felt slightly overworked. also, i can deal fine with morally ambiguous characters (in fact, they often feel more real to me than those that are totally "clean"), but jules, alva, and liz in particular had some deMONS. like, are we not ever going to address jules' last dealings with romanov? are they justified because of this lifelong infatuation with alva? okay.

Trish

"Life is not a sum-zero game. It owes us nothing, and things just happen the way they do. Sometimes they're fair and everything makes sense; sometimes they're so unfair we question everything. I pulled the mask off the face of Fate, and all I found beneath it was chance."

The song that kept playing in my head as I read this book. The music, the lyrics... just fit. 

This one's for the lonely
The one's that seek and find
Only to be let down
Time after time

This one's for the torn down
The experts at the fall
Come on friends get up now
You're not alone at all

And this part was for her
And this part was for her
This part was for her
Does she remember?

It comes and goes in waves

The End of Loneliness is an indulgent novel; it demands all of your senses and emotions and more than once I found myself moved to tears. Perhaps I'm simply in a vulnerable state, but this book made a lasting impression on me. And it's not the writing or prose that particularly stood out, although both were beautiful. I think there are just some scenes that will forever be etched in my brain.

I originally read this on my iPad but I'm going to buy a paperback for my shelves that I can revisit and lend to friends and family.

For more bookish photos, reviews and updates follow me on instagram @concerningnovels.

tina

this was just so devastatingly beautiful. it’s so cliche to say that this book broke me and then took all of my shattered pieces and glued it all back together but that’s really the best way to describe what reading this book felt like to me.

The End of Loneliness The Dazzling International Bestseller

Reviews

Highlights