“For Lewis and Wren, their first year of marriage is also their last. A few weeks after their wedding, Lewis receives a rare diagnosis. He will retain most of his consciousness, memories, and intellect, but his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark. As Lewis develops the features and impulses of one of the most predatory creatures in the ocean, his complicated artist’s heart struggles to make peace with his unfulfilled dreams.
At first, Wren internally resists her husband’s fate. Is there a way for them to be together after Lewis changes? Then, a glimpse of Lewis’s developing carnivorous nature activates long-repressed memories for Wren, whose story vacillates between her childhood living on a houseboat in Oklahoma, her time with a college ex-girlfriend, and her unusual friendship with a woman pregnant with twin birds. Woven throughout this bold novel is the story of Wren’s mother, Angela, who becomes pregnant with Wren at fifteen in an abusive relationship amidst her parents’ crumbling marriage. In the present, all of Wren’s grief eventually collides, and she is forced to make an impossible choice.
A sweeping love story that is at once lyrical and funny, airy and visceral, Shark Heart is an unforgettable, gorgeous novel about life’s perennial questions, the fragility of memories, finding joy amidst grief, and creating a meaningful life. This daring debut marks the arrival of a wildly talented new writer abounding with originality, humor, and heart.” –Description from Amazon.
This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read in some time. It’s a book about love and saying goodbye and how sometimes those are the same thing. It’s about loving even when you are afraid to. And not just loving those around you but loving the life you have no matter how difficult it gets.
Despite its fantastical elements, Shark Heart is the most accurate portrayal of love I think I have ever read. Plus, those fantastical elements are fascinating! I found myself sort of wishing animal mutations were an actual thing. What a world that would be! Though, they sound painful so, maybe not. But who hasn’t thought of what it would be like to turn into your favorite animal?
I believe the mutations are an extreme metaphor for the way life sometimes pulls people apart, whether it’s a gradual drifting or a sudden tearing apart. These things happen whether it come about from death, personal choice, or overwhelming circumstances. Sometimes the split is painful, sometimes it is a relief. The hardest part though is always opening yourself back up for it all to happen again.
For All Story Lovers! 