The End of Loneliness

November 5, 2018
Wells’s satisfying first book to be translated into English hints at an answer to a struggle most people confront—being, or feeling, alone—but ultimately suggests there isn’t one. The story is the account of three siblings: Jules Moreau, the narrator, and his older siblings Liz and Marty. The trio lose their parents in a car accident when Jules is 11, and all move from Munich to boarding school. They grow apart; Marty throws himself into his studies, and Liz falls in with a fast crowd. Jules retreats into himself, until he meets Alva, another child dealing with family troubles of her own. Alva and Jules are inseparable for years; but when their friendship hints at becoming romantic, Alva balks for reasons even she can’t articulate, and they fall out of touch. Jules tells his story retrospectively, until his narration catches up to his present, in which he is drawn back into Alva’s complicated life when she unexpectedly answers an email of his and invites him to visit her. Touching and timeless, the story is expertly and evocatively rendered, in prose both beautiful and sparse enough to cut clearly to the question at the novel’s heart: how one copes with loss that isn’t—or doesn’t have to be—permanent.

Narrator Will Damron's deep voice and comfortable pacing give life to this story. Author Wells's family saga chronicles the lives of three siblings following the untimely death of their parents in a car accident. Not surprisingly, all of the siblings struggle to find their way after being placed in boarding school, and they ultimately take widely divergent paths in life. The story is told from the point of view of one of the siblings, Jules Moreau, a thoughtful man whose life has been shaped by the early trauma. Damron's contemplative tone is appropriate for a work that is a reminiscence of the significant events that have shaped Jules's life. S.E.G. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine