Perfect

Let me start with an affirmation: Perfect by Rachel Joyce is every bit as good as her debut novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Perfect is set in Britain and follows two different storylines. In the first it is 1972 and 11-year-old Byron Hemmings has several things he is concerned about. First his best friend, James Lowe, tells him that two seconds are going to be added to the official time to balance things on this leap year. Byron knows that two seconds may seem inconsequential, but two seconds can make a huge difference. They can mean taking a firm step or stumbling off the edge of a cliff. While James and his mother, Diana, don't seem too concerned, a day comes when those two seconds changed the life of Byron's family. show more While driving Byron and his younger sister to school in the fog his mother hits a child on a bicycle. The only problem is that she didn't realize it happened and only Byron saw the accident. Should he tell her?

Alternating chapters are set in the present and follow the life of Jim, a man in his fifties with OCD. Jim has been in and out of the mental health system and endured many rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. His current job is as a table washer at a local cafe. He stutters badly and has a difficult time dealing with people, although he desperately tries to get along as best as he can.

It soon becomes clear to the reader that Byron's family is much more dysfunctional than even he realizes and it doesn't take much to topple the tightly regimented routine his mother keeps in order to endure his controlling and older father, who only comes to the country estate to see his family on the weekends. In the meantime Byron and James start "Operation Perfect," a plan to protect Diana, who James worships from afar.

Joyce keeps the pace moving and I just flew through Perfect racing to see what was going to happen next in the two storylines. All of the chapters set in 1972 are seen through Byron's eyes so, while he is observant, he doesn't always recognize the reality of what is going on around him, although he does, with James's help, have some keen insights. He loves his mother and sees her through those eyes rather than how she is viewed by his classmates mothers. Jim's situation is heartbreaking as he struggles along as best he can.

I might as well admit that I was a sobbing mess at the end of this novel. Yes, it is that good. I think I even liked it more than Harold Fry and I liked Joyce's first novel a whole lot. Joyce manages to portray her character's personalities and actions while describing the settings flawlessly. Even when propelling the story forward through the voice of an 11 year-old she manages to capture a sense of depth and purpose. She slowly shows us the steps toward the both of the unfolding tragedies that seem to be looming on the horizon. Perfect is permeated with an overwhelming sadness(thus the crying going on here) though there is redemption at the end.

The writing is superb. It is perfect. I wouldn't change a word. I loved this novel

Very Highly Recommended
Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher and TLC for review purposes. show less

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book through the First Reads program...and I was really excited because I loved Rachel Joyce's first novel, [b:The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry|13227454|The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry|Rachel Joyce|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1335816092s/13227454.jpg|18156927], even though it wasn't what I expected. This book was much the same: it wasn't what I expected from the publisher's blurb, but I loved it anyway.

In 1972, two seconds were added to the clocks to make everything peachy-keen science-wise. Eleven-year-old Byron Hemming comes to believe those two seconds have changed his life...for the worse. I expected this book to be much lighter than it actually was. Why? I mean, show more I made that same mistake with good ol' Harold, and while Harold and Byron don't have a whole lot in common on the surface, they're similar characters in some ways. (I'll let you figure that out on your own.)

In the 1972 storyline, we meet Byron, his troubled mother Diana, overbearing father Seymour, his best friend James who is infatuated with Byron's mom, James' overbearing mother, and Beverly, a woman from the other side of the tracks (which in this case is actually a road). The sexism of the '70s infuriated me and Joyce brings the characters to life so expertly, I raged against some characters and ached for others. Which isn't to say that Joyce paints them strictly as good or bad. Her characters are nuanced, and all of them are far from "perfect."

In alternating chapters, we meet a man named Jim, who is in his 50s and has spent most of his adult life in a psychiatric hospital, which is now closed. Shock therapy has left him with a stutter and he is captive to his OCD rituals. He is able to hold a job wiping tables at a local restaurant, and there he is forced to interact with an eclectic collection of coworkers.

I can't say too much about the characters or plot, because the layers of deception and mystery are integral to the story and the reader's enjoyment. I will say that I saw some of the twists coming, but only because I've read so many books that I've become pretty good at guessing. Some of my guesses regarding this book were also wrong, so yours could be, too. And also this book made me cry, a lot, but I'm a big sap when it comes to books, much more than I am in real life.

Joyce's prose is gorgeous, perfectly evoking the mood of a restless 70s summer and modern chilling winter. Dear Publisher, please feel free to send me ARCs for anything else that Rachel Joyce writes! show less

There is a particular truth about being the oldest sibling in a family. There is a heightened awareness of responsibility that does not exist in younger siblings. There is also, typically, a close bond with at least one parent. Poor Byron epitomizes these characteristics. He adores his mother and will do almost anything to make sure she remains happy. In fact, he views it as his duty to protect her from sadness. For an eleven-year-old boy, this means nothing but undue stress and terrible consequences when a particular situation spirals out of his childhood control. His inability to prevent bad things from happening to his family heightens the sense of unfairness at a chance circumstance with devastating consequences.

James is an show more interesting complement for Byron. He is Sheldon to Byron’s Leonard – the practical, logical one as opposed to Byron’s intense emotional responses. He is the one with the plans to help protect Byron’s family; he provides the guidance and reassurance Byron needs to complete his plans. He is an old soul. That he may be out of his depth in Byron’s situation never crosses his mind, and he approaches this most adult of circumstances with a precocious sagacity that borders on humorous. Their friendship is as touching as the end results are inevitable.

The true awfulness of Perfect is not what happens to Byron and his family. It is not even how much Byron struggles to maintain the status quo. It is the fact that two little boys are caught up into an entirely adult situation of which they have no hope of fully understanding or preventing. They can see that things are heading downward but they do not have the worldly knowledge to understand why or how to prevent it. Their hearts are in the right place, but they can affect no preventative measures to halt the situation’s descent. Therein also lays the beauty of Perfect for, regardless of their impotence, their desire serves as a touching reminder of the inherent goodness of children.

Perfect is the tragic story of misunderstandings, misplaced hopes, and unrequited dreams, of friendship and love, of expectations versus reality, of guilt and innocence, of responsibility and of consequences. Byron’s struggles to keep his world from falling to pieces are at once heartbreaking and endearing. His seriousness is charming, but it is his devotion to his mother where readers fall in love with him. Conversely, Jim’s own adulthood battles form their own tragedy. Ms. Joyce excels at peeling back each layer of cause and effect to highlight its lasting impact on the characters, while her gorgeous phrasing enlivens not only the dialogue but also the entire setting. Her excellent use of the multiple narrator/dual time period serves to heighten the considerable tension and drama. With its lasting discussions of guilt and innocence, Perfect is the type of story that compels and haunts. show less

This book has two timelines, the first of which is in 1972, when two seconds were added to time. Those two seconds proved disastrous for Byron Hemmings when he believes that they are the reason an accident which caused his mother to have a breakdown. Byron and his friend James start a campaign called Operation Perfect, to rescue Byron’s mother from her downward spiral.

The second timeline is set in the present day, and concentrates on Jim, a man in his 50s, who suffers with chronic OCD, and is haunted by the events of his past.

I enjoyed the book for the most part – the writing was lovely and the story flowed well. The characters were believable, and Byron’s helplessness as he watches his mother sink into depression, which is not show more helped by the manipulative character of her new friend Beverly. This storyline was probably the more interesting of the two, as there was more happening. However, the character of Jim in the present day storyline, was well drawn – his crippling and debilitating OCD was wonderfully described, and it was impossible not to feel sorry for him, and to hope that things would get better for him.

However, I did find the ending, where the connection between the two story lines – hinted at many times earlier in the story, but not fully explained – was a slight disappointment, and the slight twist was not really necessary.

So overall, I would say that Perfect is not perfect, but it’s an enjoyable and absorbing read. show less

Any writer who can write a sentence like "If Byron ever tried to hug [his father], and sometimes he wished he could, the embrace ran away at the last minute and became a handshake," as though it just flowed off her pen in the first 50 pages of a book sets up high expectations in her readers. Not only is this a beautiful sentence to read, but it also tells us everything we need to know about Byron's relationship with his father.

Joyce's language does not disappoint throughout the book, but the pacing does. There's a lot of tension in this book, which is interesting because it doesn't feel like a lot actually happens. Most of the energy seems to come from the collective inability of all the characters to get beyond their own anxieties and show more actually fix the situations in which they find themselves. And that's just not something I have any patience for, either in print, or in real life. show less

I know it's only January, but I feel like I've already found my book of the year! An extremely well written novel, that slowly reveals itself with each page read. Told in alternating chapters that switch between 1972 and present day, it's hard to figure out what the connection will be between the two plot lines as the content seems incongruous, which only made me want to finish the book that much faster.

Alternating chapters tell two stories which in the end prove to be connected. One part is set in 1972 and focuses on 11-year-old Byron Hemmings and his friend James Lowe. Diana, Byron’s mother, is involved in a minor accident, of which she is even aware, but which leaves Byron traumatized: “He was aware he had reached a landmark in his life, a defining moment.” He believes his mother must be protected from the consequences of her actions since “You could not do a thing without consequences . . . even though no one knew about the accident, there would be repercussions.” He and James start Operation Perfect in order to protect Diana. The second story is set about 40 years later and involves a man named Jim who suffers from show more mental illness for which he has had electroconvulsive therapy. He so wants to live a normal life but his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder means that much of his time is spent repeating rituals. An accident, however, brings him into the sphere of Eileen, a woman who seems set on trying to get to know Jim.

This book is a compelling read. One of the major reasons is character development. Each major character (Byron, James, Diana, Jim, Eileen) emerges as an individual whom the reader comes to understand intimately. Because of the psychological depth provided, the actions of characters are always credible, even if those actions seem strange. For example, Byron is a sensitive and imaginative young boy whom his mother describes as a “worrier” who loves his mother and so feels impelled to take action to save his mother even though he has been told “’Things are never so bad as we think.’” Because he worships his friend James (who is himself motivated by being smitten with Diana), he tends to follow James’ advice unquestioningly. Operation Perfect is an attempt to make things perfect again, but it has no chance of success because neither Byron nor James is mature enough to understand all the ramifications of their actions. Likewise, Jim’s rituals are indeed strange, but given his personality and past experiences, they are completely plausible.

If the characterization is unsatisfying in any way, it is in that the reader wants more. This is especially the case with Diana. Glimpses of her past are given, but there is much left unanswered. How and why did she come to marry Seymour, a man fifteen years her senior, with whom she has little in common? The two are foils in so many ways. For example, Diana is openly affectionate and deeply involved in her children’s lives; Seymour’s presence, on the other hand, causes a “chill” and “if Byron ever tried to hug him . . . the embrace ran away at the last minute and became a handshake.” She strives to be the perfect wife who subsumes her personality to his, but there are flashes of feistiness that suggest a different person. A book about Diana and Seymour’s relationship is one I would love to read.

The fact that events are filtered through Byron and Jim’s viewpoints makes interpreting events challenging for the reader. Byron is only eleven and so lacks the maturity to understand events. He makes some wonderful observations; for instance, he notices Beverley studying his mother’s rings and examining the label on his mother’s coat, and he describes the school mothers as giving “tight smiles that appeared to stick to their mouths and hurt.” Of course, he doesn’t always understand the significance of those observations. Byron’s unreliability as a narrator is especially obvious with Beverley: because the reader sees her only through Byron’s eyes, the reader may find him/herself confused as to Beverley’s true nature. And Byron certainly doesn’t comprehend the many possible interpretations of Beverley’s comment to Diana: “’You’re so posh you haven’t a clue, Di.’” Since Jim has several issues, he too is not the most reliable of filters. Requiring readers to draw their own conclusions is a great way of involving them in the story. This narrative approach may cause readers to be surprised at the plot twist near the end, but they will also find themselves realizing that it makes perfect sense – again because characterization has laid the foundation so well for that revelation.
There is thematic depth as well. The novel suggests that life can be changed in an instant (or two seconds) but examines a number of other issues, among them being the stigma of mental illness, the fear of not belonging, the restrictions of social class, and the pressure for perfection. A variety of emotional states are also explored: sadness, loneliness, happiness, anger, love, and jealousy. And it does all this in lovely language. The descriptions of the moors can only be described as mellifluous and are very effective in creating atmosphere. And though much sadness permeates, there are touches of humour: “They walk to the pub, Jim and Eileen, followed by two smells, perfume and deodorant, that are so noxious it is like spending Christmas with an unpleasant set of relatives.”

This novel totally captivated me. Its narrative structure, character development, language, and thematic depth make it an almost perfect read.

Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. show less