Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #838902 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Synopsis
Straight 40-something Michael plans to throw himself from a cruise ship, but instead procrastinates his suicide all the way to the gay mecca of Key West. Once onshore, he first finds a city with a fascinating history, and then a series of brutal and anonymous sexual encounters, as well as a cast of interesting new friends, both male and female, who eventually help him adjust to his new gay self.

Customer Reviews

Worthy successor to Armistead Maupin
The Island of Mending Hearts gives us another gay "family" to live with and love. Tim Ashley's book is beautifully written. He shares Maupin's ability to weave an intricate plot and to make a whole cast of characters come alive. The cast here are immensely human, believable, subtle. You want to laugh and cry with them, root for them and, sometimes, just shake them by the shoulders.
Key West forms a magical backdrop to the action and the whole story just makes you want to get on the next plane there.
Ashley hints in his Epilogue that there might be a sequel. By the time you have read this heartwarming and funny book, you will be begging him to get writing.

A niche novel with crossover appeal
The Island of Mending Hearts is the first novel from banker-turned-internet-impresario Tim Ashley. The distressed forty-something Michael puts off suicide whilst on an American cruise and decides to stay in Key West on the strength of a chance encounter with a supportive young man on a shore visit. This visit also signals emotional breakdown as the emotionally bruised Michael attempts to recover from a death and heads towards divorce. Tantalising glimpses of his confused sexuality and uncertain future counterbalance the progress he makes in learning about himself as he learns more about his environment.

The book is without the intellectual labour of Alan Hollinghurst or the hand-wringing anxieties of Edmund White, but it works on other levels. As a travelogue it has much to commend itself in the way of conscientious research; as a gay-interest novel it name-checks the requisites (HIV, acceptability, international partnership difficulties) without becoming a ghettoised torch song.

Where it comes into its own is the therapeutic tone of self-healing and life-affirmation. This is a feel-good narrative, portrayed so well in the psycho-friendly atmosphere of America and sunny Florida Keys in particular. The personalities are finely drawn despite the flat-character risk of tying an individual to any one driver such as sexuality or crisis. And despite a heavy reliance on dialogue, the plot is clever and complex enough to sustain both interest and amusement without becoming too much of a soap opera.

A laconic reference to Maupin's Tales of the City is telling. Whereas the San Francisco chronicles gravitated to battle with strong Aids and social problems, the microcosmic Island takes a gentler approach towards individuals and communities. The frothiness reveals a more poignant study of loss and being lost, and that our actual families are rarely our true ones.

Ashley shows huge potential: there are moments of inspiration. His writing, like his characters, holds both future and promise.

Beautiful and Evocative
A beautifully written and touching book. It is incredibly evocative of the island of Key West and totally overwhelmed me from start to finish. I cannot recommend it highly enough.