Enlightening, perceptive & original debut on seeing the world afresh. Thought-provoking with two relatable protagonists.
Joe Heap’s debut is a quirky love story with a difference in that the two female protagonists are each learning to see things through fresh eyes and for the most part is a compelling and eye-opening look at life from two very different perspectives. This is a story full on inspiration and revelation that will make readers thoroughly grateful for the gift of sight that we often take for granted. But do beware because author Joe Heap dies not shy away from more serious issues and a darker subplot comes to prominence in the second half with decidedly mixed results.
After thirty-one-years of facing the world as a blind person, fiercely intelligent and independent Jillian Safinova (“Nova”) makes the biggest decision of her life and undergoes a revolutionary procedure to enable her to see completely for the first time ever. Ebullient, capable and fond of making self-deprecating jokes to avoid making the fully sighted uncomfortable, she is an Oxford graduate, speaks five languages, reads Braille and works as an interpreter for the police. Waking up in the stroke ward after a successful operation, Nova has decidedly mixed feelings and meets similarly disconcerted Katerina Tomassi (“Kate”) at the hospital after she has undergone a procedure to relieve fluid on the brain following a blow to the head. And whilst the reader knows just how Kate sustained the injury, thanks to her overbearing and vicious detective inspector husband, Tony, it is a considerable while before she finds the strength to speak out and tell Nova. As diminutive as Nova is, Kate stands over six-foot-tall and is the sensible one to Nova’s impulsive jumping in head first persona which has allowed her to live life to its full potential without sight. The friendship of the two infuses them both with fresh hope and helps them to make sense of a changing world, but as they each battle with different predicaments from domestic abuse and stalking, to learning to read and instinctively functioning as a fully sighted individual, they have plenty of struggles in store.
In all honesty it was Nova’s journey on the road from blind to fully sighted that made for the truly compelling reading and Heap punctuates the entire novel with subtly perceptive snippets (dubbed by Nova as ‘The Rules of Seeing’) on everything from how food often does not looking appetising likes it smells, reading expressions, watching people talk and how sometimes moving objects will sometimes appear to ‘stutter’, many of which took my breath away with just how profound they are. The slow burning friendship and sexual chemistry of the first half of the story as Nova and Kate each undertake new stages of their life with Nova’s coming to terms with seeing the world through very different eyes and Kate realising just how unhealthy and abusive her relationship with husband, Tony, is is beautifully portrayed. It is gentle, endearing and wonderfully tender and Nova’s verve, humour and determination to blaze a trail all of her own makes her a memorable protagonist.
However as the second half begins and the true romance blossoms with Kate’s controlling husband looming in the background, the formula seems to flag. Kate became a little too needy, bordering on wet blanket and Nova’s puppy dog energy to do crazy things from setting up a fort in the house to simply shutting out the world for weeks on end never quite tallied with a thirty-two-year-old police interpreter and a successful architect both in employment. Likewise the spark in the attraction between the women seemed to burn out as the story progressed and the crime thriller element takes over with what I felt was limited success. This component of the story is significantly underdeveloped and made for a disappointing and overblown psychological thriller style denouement and brought a sour tone to a largely very tender and heartfelt relationship. Overall however this is a hugely original, witty and moving story with the added benefit of also being a radical journey of self-discovery for both protagonists and I enjoyed it far more than I had expected to. A love story with depth that is well worth suspending disbelief about the medical possibility of Nova’s operation to enjoy.
Worth reading for the many surprising revelations on the gift of sight and seeing how Nova learns to interpret the world with a very different set of rules.
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.
After thirty-one-years of facing the world as a blind person, fiercely intelligent and independent Jillian Safinova (“Nova”) makes the biggest decision of her life and undergoes a revolutionary procedure to enable her to see completely for the first time ever. Ebullient, capable and fond of making self-deprecating jokes to avoid making the fully sighted uncomfortable, she is an Oxford graduate, speaks five languages, reads Braille and works as an interpreter for the police. Waking up in the stroke ward after a successful operation, Nova has decidedly mixed feelings and meets similarly disconcerted Katerina Tomassi (“Kate”) at the hospital after she has undergone a procedure to relieve fluid on the brain following a blow to the head. And whilst the reader knows just how Kate sustained the injury, thanks to her overbearing and vicious detective inspector husband, Tony, it is a considerable while before she finds the strength to speak out and tell Nova. As diminutive as Nova is, Kate stands over six-foot-tall and is the sensible one to Nova’s impulsive jumping in head first persona which has allowed her to live life to its full potential without sight. The friendship of the two infuses them both with fresh hope and helps them to make sense of a changing world, but as they each battle with different predicaments from domestic abuse and stalking, to learning to read and instinctively functioning as a fully sighted individual, they have plenty of struggles in store.
In all honesty it was Nova’s journey on the road from blind to fully sighted that made for the truly compelling reading and Heap punctuates the entire novel with subtly perceptive snippets (dubbed by Nova as ‘The Rules of Seeing’) on everything from how food often does not looking appetising likes it smells, reading expressions, watching people talk and how sometimes moving objects will sometimes appear to ‘stutter’, many of which took my breath away with just how profound they are. The slow burning friendship and sexual chemistry of the first half of the story as Nova and Kate each undertake new stages of their life with Nova’s coming to terms with seeing the world through very different eyes and Kate realising just how unhealthy and abusive her relationship with husband, Tony, is is beautifully portrayed. It is gentle, endearing and wonderfully tender and Nova’s verve, humour and determination to blaze a trail all of her own makes her a memorable protagonist.
However as the second half begins and the true romance blossoms with Kate’s controlling husband looming in the background, the formula seems to flag. Kate became a little too needy, bordering on wet blanket and Nova’s puppy dog energy to do crazy things from setting up a fort in the house to simply shutting out the world for weeks on end never quite tallied with a thirty-two-year-old police interpreter and a successful architect both in employment. Likewise the spark in the attraction between the women seemed to burn out as the story progressed and the crime thriller element takes over with what I felt was limited success. This component of the story is significantly underdeveloped and made for a disappointing and overblown psychological thriller style denouement and brought a sour tone to a largely very tender and heartfelt relationship. Overall however this is a hugely original, witty and moving story with the added benefit of also being a radical journey of self-discovery for both protagonists and I enjoyed it far more than I had expected to. A love story with depth that is well worth suspending disbelief about the medical possibility of Nova’s operation to enjoy.
Worth reading for the many surprising revelations on the gift of sight and seeing how Nova learns to interpret the world with a very different set of rules.
With thanks to Readers First who provided me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.