The Twisted Heart
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Review
'skittish, stream-of-consciousness prose, ultra-realistic dialogue and a genuinely puzzling historical murder mystery. Fresh, clever and very funny' -- John O'Connell, The Guardian
'21st century love is laid tenderly but unflinchingly bare in this ultimately strange and lingering novel.' --Independent on Sunday
`A dark delight of a novel.' --Metro
`Sharp, acute, comic and true to life; admirable and enjoyable' --The Scotsman
`an intriguing literary thriller' --Easy Living
'21st century love is laid tenderly but unflinchingly bare in this ultimately strange and lingering novel.' --Independent on Sunday
`A dark delight of a novel.' --Metro
`Sharp, acute, comic and true to life; admirable and enjoyable' --The Scotsman
`an intriguing literary thriller' --Easy Living
Review
A dark delight of a novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read and enjoyed Rebecca Gowers' first book, When to Walk, so was thrilled when I discovered her second, The Twisted Heart was one of the two books I received for making it to the short list of the "First Prime" short fiction competition.
Both of Gowers' novels take as their theme the trials and difficulties of modern love and in both she gives her story zing by creating characters which teeter on the border of normality. They're believable but distorted, the kind of people you can imagine meeting in the pub and never forgetting. The Twisted Heart features Kit, a post grad researching the murder of a Victorian prostitute. She believes the death is linked in some way to Dickens' fictional account of the death of Nancy in Oliver Twist (hence the title), but can't explain why Nancy's death appears to preface the real life murder. At the same time, Kit becomes involved with Joe, a Maths professor whose own life is far from straightforward. His brother Humpty is in a precarious state of mental health and has some very dodgy friends. Kit has to decide if Joe's defensiveness is just that of an older brother, or if he has other secrets to hide.
The plot resolution is no big surprise, but Gowers has a lovely, light style which carries the reader along. She has a gift for capturing the awkward moments of a relationship in its early days, those disjointed conversations where we nearly, but never quite, say exactly what we mean. She also writes her characters with affection, so we care about them and want them to be happy. And when they are, in the end, we smile.
Both of Gowers' novels take as their theme the trials and difficulties of modern love and in both she gives her story zing by creating characters which teeter on the border of normality. They're believable but distorted, the kind of people you can imagine meeting in the pub and never forgetting. The Twisted Heart features Kit, a post grad researching the murder of a Victorian prostitute. She believes the death is linked in some way to Dickens' fictional account of the death of Nancy in Oliver Twist (hence the title), but can't explain why Nancy's death appears to preface the real life murder. At the same time, Kit becomes involved with Joe, a Maths professor whose own life is far from straightforward. His brother Humpty is in a precarious state of mental health and has some very dodgy friends. Kit has to decide if Joe's defensiveness is just that of an older brother, or if he has other secrets to hide.
The plot resolution is no big surprise, but Gowers has a lovely, light style which carries the reader along. She has a gift for capturing the awkward moments of a relationship in its early days, those disjointed conversations where we nearly, but never quite, say exactly what we mean. She also writes her characters with affection, so we care about them and want them to be happy. And when they are, in the end, we smile.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this novel which has two fascinating stories wrapped into its large and generous, if twisted, heart. Kit begins by being someone you are not sure you're going to like, a graduate at an Oxford college studying for her D.Phil who keeps getting sidetracked in her studies over a theory she cannot dismiss that Dickens based some of his work on true crimes taking place in murky parts of London. This part of the story is real - all of the research she does is backed up by actual documents, and it's a marvellous addition to the fictional story of Kit and her relationship with Joe, a Mathematician who has a problematic younger brother named Humpty. Various matters arise (which, if told, would spoil the plot for others) to keep their relationship on an uneven keel, some of them echoing the penny-dreadful blood and gore in which Kit immerses herself.
The writing is quirky, like Kit, but in a very good way, making conversations joltingly believable and often very funny. The mixture works splendidly and has a great ending. Compulsive, lucid, brilliantly perceptive and highly enjoyable.
The writing is quirky, like Kit, but in a very good way, making conversations joltingly believable and often very funny. The mixture works splendidly and has a great ending. Compulsive, lucid, brilliantly perceptive and highly enjoyable.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kit, an Oxford DPhil student is working on a thesis on Dickens and is puzzled by the similarities between the murder of Nancy in Oliver Twist and a real-life Victorian murder. In a parallel narrative, she meets a man called Joe and starts a relationship with him.
The blurb promises a lot but I think this is one of the worst books I have ever read. The style is overwritten (Kit doesn't just turn to avoid a group of people on the street, she "briefly skewed the axis of her shoulders"), with a strange kind of syntax that often just doesn't make any sense at all. She also uses words is a bizarre way which might intend to be `fresh' but which I just found meaningless ("hoppishly she twirled" - what?).
The plot is no better than the writing: and the conclusion that Dickens wrote real events into his books won't come as a revelation to anyone - indeed, the premise that Kit starts with is just so ridiculous that one wonders where exactly the author got her ideas of the rigour of doctoral research.
The whole effort read to me like a muddled first draft that had never been re-read - one star is generous.
The blurb promises a lot but I think this is one of the worst books I have ever read. The style is overwritten (Kit doesn't just turn to avoid a group of people on the street, she "briefly skewed the axis of her shoulders"), with a strange kind of syntax that often just doesn't make any sense at all. She also uses words is a bizarre way which might intend to be `fresh' but which I just found meaningless ("hoppishly she twirled" - what?).
The plot is no better than the writing: and the conclusion that Dickens wrote real events into his books won't come as a revelation to anyone - indeed, the premise that Kit starts with is just so ridiculous that one wonders where exactly the author got her ideas of the rigour of doctoral research.
The whole effort read to me like a muddled first draft that had never been re-read - one star is generous.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Don't believe the blurb...
I was so disappointed by this book. So much so that I am writing my first book review! What is billed as a Dickens/Victorian murder mystery has practically nothing to do with it at... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Hannah Thomas
Not worth the effort
I kept losing the plot on this one. I realised afterwards it was because I was bored and skim-reading so much. Read more
Published on 23 April 2010 by Tamara L
Not such a good second novel
This author's book 'When to walk' was quite hilarious but this one is so dull it is hard to imagine it is by the same author. Read more
Published on 1 July 2009 by Nigel Barnett
It was good, but...
Okay, this is a novel essentially with three strands of plot. Two of them probably share the main stage, with the other being the subplot. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2009 by Elizabeth Bennett
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