The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 🔖🔖🔖

First published June 4, 1940

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Carson McCullers’ prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. Set in a small town in the middle of the deep South, it is the story of John Singer, a lonely deaf-mute, and a disparate group of people who are drawn towards his kind, sympathetic nature. The owner of the café where Singer eats every day, a young girl desperate to grow up, an angry drunkard, a frustrated black doctor: each pours their heart out to Singer, their silent confidant, and he in turn changes their disenchanted lives in ways they could never imagine. (source: goodreads)

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This was slow going yet interesting enough in parts to keep me locked in. I enjoyed the main characters except for the drunk and the man in love with a teenage girl. One was too brash and the other kinda icky. One stayed the same through the end, another actually made changes. You can read it to find out for yourself. :)

Someone said this book is *not* about unrequited love. I think it really is. Not romantic love (probably) but friendship and connection love. It was about our need to be seen, to be heard (if I dare say) and the lengths we'll go for that, and how many times it is counterfeit.

I liked it enough. It had a huge Grapes of Wrath feel for me at times.