Heartbreaker: A Novel

· Sold by Random House
3.0
1 review
Ebook
272
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

The love between a daughter and her mother—and the dark secrets they keep from each other—are at the heart of this wildly imaginative novel that combines elements of The Handmaid’s Tale, Stranger Things, and Twin Peaks.

“I love Heartbreaker’s outlandishness, its sizzling energy—the bright, fierce music in every sentence.”—Leni Zumas, author of Red Clocks

It’s 1985. Pony Darlene Fontaine has lived all her fifteen years in “the territory,” a settlement founded decades ago by a charismatic cult leader. In this strange town run on a sinister economic resource, the women crimp their hair and wear shoulder pads, and the teenagers listen to Nazareth and Whitesnake on their Walkmans. Pony’s family lives in the bungalow at the farthest edge of town, where the territory borders the rest of the wider world—a place none of the townspeople have ever been.

Except for Billie Jean Fontaine, Pony’s mother. When Billie Jean arrived in the territory seventeen years prior—falling from the open door of a stolen car—the residents took her in and made her one of their own. She was the first outsider they had ever laid eyes on. Pony adores and idolizes her mother, but like everyone else in the territory she is mystified by her. Billie Jean refuses to describe the world she came from.

One night, Billie Jean grabs her truck keys, bolts barefoot into the cold October darkness—and vanishes. Beautiful, beloved, and secretive, Billie Jean was the first person to be welcomed into the territory. Now, with a frantic search under way for her missing mother, Pony fears: Will she be the first person to leave it too?

Told from the three unforgettable perspectives of a daughter, a killer dog, and a teenage boy named Supernatural, this novel is startling in its humor and wrenching in its wisdom about the powers, limits, and dangers of love. Heartbreaker is an electrifying page-turner about a woman reinventing herself in order to survive—and a daughter who must race against the clock to untangle the mysteries left in her mother’s wake.

Praise for Heartbreaker


“A fierce exploration of memory and zeitgeist . . . Heartbreaker is a darkly comedic weirdo of a book that pulls the string of nostalgia from one side while unraveling it from the other.”The Paris Review
 
“This is a book like no other. It’s eerie, it's cult-y, it's so very exciting, and I never wanted it to end.”Buzzfeed, Best Books of Fall 2018
 
“Claudia Dey renders 1985 in perfectly crimped, shoulder-padded detail. . . . Come for the Shyamalanian premise. Stay for the hard-rock soundtrack.”Chicago Tribune

Ratings and reviews

3.0
1 review
A Google user
August 24, 2018
3 Stars Review by Amy Late Night Reviewer Up All Night w/ Books Blog Claudia Dey’s Heartbreaker was a one of a kind novel with a witty slant and a deeper meaning. Teenage years can be difficult, and for Pony, they are even stranger. Trying to make it in an unusual commune with a mom who is inconsistent and eccentric brings even more challenges. Billie Jean disappears without a word and her daughter and husband go on a hunt to find her. Trying to put the pieces together, and with a bonus perspective from her dog, things get a little dark and unexpected. Writing the review for this book is a bit challenging for me. The concept was desirable. I love anything with dark secrets, mysteries, vanishing people and weird quirky characters. This seemed to have many of those characteristics, however, it fell a bit short for me. It was written quite abstractly and was difficult to follow. It veered in multiple directions and when the storyline came to light, I really enjoyed it, but there was a lot of deviation from that main storyline that felt unrelatable and distracting. I really wanted to enjoy this one more than I did. While this one wasn’t for me, I think there are others who would really enjoy it. With an apocalypse or other world feel, it presented an unusual perspective. I think if you enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, this is a book that may peak your interest. The literary writing and unique cult-style living had a similar parallel that would appeal to those who enjoy this type of prose.
Did you find this helpful?

About the author

Claudia Dey is the author of Stunt, a Globe and Mail and Quill & Quire Book of the Year. Her plays have been produced internationally and nominated for the Governor General’s Award and Trillium Book Award. Dey’s writing has appeared in many publications, including The Paris Review and The Believer. She has also worked as a horror film actress and a cook in lumber camps across northern Canada, and is co-designer of Horses Atelier. Claudia Dey lives in Toronto. Heartbreaker is her American debut.

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.