Pepper Harding

The Heart of Henry Quantum

Henry Quantum works in advertising in a nondescript office that looks into an apartment about be a strip joint. It’s December 23rd and he realizes he has yet to buy his wife a gift. Opting to buy her a bottle of Channel 5, he sets it as his goal for the day.
Henry has a mind that wanders more than Grandma Gatewood did and tends to miss a lot of stops along his way.
Reminding me of Ignatius J Reilly, he’s a man of his own mind. Analytical, subjective, goofy, and show more endearing.
His latest promotional campaign is for “Protox” .. a purported skin enhancer that, in truth, is no more than a laxative for which “The reason your skin glows is that you are totally dehydrated and feverish.”
The revelations he encounters as he tries to tout virtues are hilarious! His fear of becoming a sophist slave to the firm more so. I like Henry. We think so alike. (An ongoing train, dazzled with graffiti, with cars from every whichwhere.)
Henry happens onto Daisy, an affair he had some 5 years ago. She is not so freshly divorced, while he remained wed. He was on his way to get the Channel. She tells him she still desires him. He tells her he loves his wife, Margaret. She flees. He ponders.
The voice of Margaret follows as she heads out for a nooner with her lover. She no longer loves Henry and contemplates life with Peter, as the two unite for the day.
The voice of Daisy makes the next chapter glow. Vibrant, loving, needed. She survives the day, reminiscing and surrendering. She yearns as it rains.
Henry has not bought the perfume yet. There are too many distractions, mentally and physically, for him. We follow their leads. We all end up at the same place. show less

The Heart of Henry Quantum is a very interesting novel that will elicit extreme reactions from readers. Many quite understandable, some a bit less so. I found the book to be a compelling character study (not just of Henry) as well as a realistic study of the dynamics of relationships. These topics interest me and Harding delivers in these areas.

Henry is like the person you probably know who can't seem to take anything at face value, always questioning how or why something is. He is not so show more much bothered to the point of wanting to make the world different but more as a state of constant curiosity. These thoughts range from mundane to philosophic in nature with the result being that he misses much of the nuance that takes place around him because he lives more in his head than in the world.

He has life changing effects on people, both Margaret and Daisy in the context of this novel. His personality contributed to Margaret making the changes she made in her life during the time of their marriage. While the traits Margaret finds annoying moved her away from Henry those same traits were endearing to Daisy and moved her closer to him, at least in her heart.

The sections on Margaret and Daisy provide a wonderful understanding of the thinking behind how and why people make major decisions. This isn't to say it makes complete sense but I'm not sure all of our decisions are ever completely rational or well planned, they develop and seem at times to just happen, even though it takes an action to actually implement it.

The characters say and do some things the reader may find offensive if taken out of context, try to remember these comments are meant to portray who this character is and not as a social or political statement. This is fiction and making insensitive comments gives an idea how that person thinks and interacts with the world.

I would recommend this to readers who appreciate character-driven minimal action novels, particularly those readers who enjoy getting inside another person's mind even when that person doesn't do as you might think you would do. I do have to admit that I find it amazing the number of people who can't read a book with adultery in it because it makes them dislike the character and thus the novel, but they have no qualms (based on other book reviews) reading about murderers and their motivations in novel form. Do they like murderers more than adulterers? Do they consider murder a minor thing while adultery is major? Are they better able to relate to a murderer than an adulterer? Anyway...

Reviewed from a copy made available through Goodreads First Reads. show less

Delighted! That's the word that best describes my feelings after just finishing "The Heart of Henry Quantum". There was so much about this book that I loved. The author's writing style is rich with comparisons/contrasts, word play, and lovely humor. It is also so well edited, without endless dialogue or descriptions, to the point that I was almost disappointed to finish.
Henry is an anti-hero type guy who is perfect for the right woman. The problem is that woman is not his wife. He is a nerdy show more guy, so skinny that his nickname is Bones. His thoughts are best described as a flight of ideas leading him in entirely different directions from his original observations. Although he's in the advertising business, he strikes me as the perfect stereotype of an absent minded professor-but with enough of an edge to be a bit sexy. Women will know what I mean. The day before Christmas Eve he leaves his office to get his wife's gift: a bottle of expensive perfume (nice tie-in to the brand on the cover). His errand, while urgent in his mind, is anything but direct. He struggles to keep focused and on the way runs into an old friend. She adds more confusion to his current thoughts about his life and marriage. By the end of the book, Henry figures out what has been disturbing him, and the book ends with delightful resolution.
This book connected to my heart. I fell a bit in love with Henry Quantum myself, as will other readers who enjoy feeling a connection to the people they read about (even if they are fictional). This book is all about getting to know Henry and understand and appreciate his unique and clumsily romantic mind. If that sounds interesting to you, I think you should definitely pick up Pepper Harding's (pseudonym ?) new book.
I thank the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. I will be looking for more from Pepper Harding. show less

Really had hopes for this one, but alas. Kirkus Reviews misled me. They said "In Harding's wry debut fiction...the San Francisco setting is perfectly mapped on the page Henry's a perfectly sketched character, his interior monologue...at times funny, at times profound." Only one statement was true. the San Francisco area is so mapped out that you can count the steps Henry walks downtown, and if you know the city, follow the journey exactly in your head, and maybe suggest alternatives. I show more almost gave the book up at page 103, but then saw there was a character POV shift in the next part, and was hopeful I'd get drawn into the story, but Henry and his women just didn't work for me. show less