The follow-up/companion novel to Sara Barnard’s Beautiful Broken Things, Fierce Fragile Hearts follows the story of Suzanne, two years after BBT concluded. She has been institutionalised then in the custody of random strangers prior to her 18th birthday. Now having come of age, Suze needs to move on from the care home and live the rest of her life independently, deciding to return to Brighton and the friends she left behind. Having thought I had read the first instalment, I dove into Fierce Fragile Hearts with zeal. Turns out I hadn’t read it BUT as a result of this being an amazing novel, it is quite easily a standalone. While a few occurrences were foreign, events are explained with enough detail that frankly, I didn’t need to read it (definitely on my TBR list though).
Throughout the narrative, I found myself finding parallels between myself and Suzanne, recognising some traits of my younger self within her and remembering times when I thought all was lost. Enduring hardships a plenty in her past, she is a strong woman, wrapped in a thick layer of anxiety and alcoholism then coated in an exterior of unbreakable marble, never letting anyone get close enough to pulling down her walls. She is a wreck who is working on herself at every turn, determined never to go back to old habits, but always stepping that tiny bit closer to the edge of the pit of despair into which she has fallen in the past.
Caddy and Rosie return, this time in the role of supportive friends, but soon move on to greater things in the form of university. While they are featured heavily and for the most part all things friend goals, the two best friends don’t have the pivotal roles within this novel.
Instead, let me introduce you to Matt – the not boyfriend but kind of friend kind of more; and Dilys – the elderly lady who lives downstairs but provides washing machines, tea and companionship. When times get rough and the proverbial hits the fan, these two amazing characters are what keep everything together. Each acting in their own way and guiding Suzanne with a (sometimes not so) gentle hand, Matt and Dilys form the support network that our protagonist wishes she had her entire life. While by all accounts, BBT is about friendship, FFH is about more. It’s about self discovery and letting people in, allowing yourself to let go of the past and enjoy the world in all its beautifully tragic splendour.
As a standalone, it was well-paced and really drew the reader into its narrative, so descriptive in its prose one can feel the highs and lows of Suzanne’s existence with their very being. While the story was completely intriguing, this contributor should probably have read BBT first as some events from it seemed critical to understanding everybody’s motivations. While events were described adequately to get an oblivious reader through the novel, it may have been easier to connect with Caddy had Beautiful Broken Things been read prior to this one.
So, here is where the review will be cut short on account of people probably don’t want to read 1000 words of rambling about a book they probably just want to jump in and read. Just know that between the five types of burritos, a sneaky kiss that leaves everyone angry, a dog that hates everyone, a tiny romance that’s not a romance and a lovely nurse who I just wanted to reach through the pages and hug, Fierce Fragile Hearts is a stunning contemporary that is guaranteed to pull your heart strings and leave you questioning your own values in life.
Fierce Fragile Hearts is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
