Welcome to my review of This Is How We Are Human By Louise Beech. This is a lovely book written from the perspective of a neurodivergent young man, when his mother tries to help and involves someone else all of their lives are changed forever.
When the mother of an autistic young man hires a call girl to make him happy, three lives collide in unexpected and moving ways … changing everything. A devastatingly beautiful, rich and thought-provoking novel that will warm and break your heart…
Sebastian James Murphy is twenty years, six months and two days old. He loves swimming, fried eggs and Billy Ocean. Sebastian is autistic. And lonely.
Veronica wants her son Sebastian to be happy … she wants the world to accept him for who he is. She is also thinking about paying a professional to give him what he desperately wants.
Violetta is a high-class escort, who steps out into the night thinking only of money. Of her nursing degree. Paying for her dad’s care. Getting through the dark.
When these three lives collide – intertwine in unexpected ways – everything changes. For everyone.
Louise Beech is an exceptional literary talent, whose debut novel How To Be Brave was a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2015. The follow-up, The Mountain in My Shoe was shortlisted for Not the Booker Prize. Both of her previous books Maria in the Moon and The Lion Tamer Who Lost were widely reviewed, critically acclaimed and number-one bestsellers on Kindle. The Lion Tamer Who Lost was shortlisted for the RNA Most Popular Romantic Novel Award in 2019. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting for the Bridport Prize twice. Louise lives with her husband on the outskirts of Hull, and loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012.
Follow Louise on Twitter @LouiseWriter and visit her website: louisebeech.co.uk.
“I learned from her and she learned from me. This is how we find our place in the world. Then I whisper the last bit very quietly because it’s just between me and him and the river. This is how we are human.”
This Is How We Are Human, Louise Beech
I chose this book after various recommendations on social media, particularly some book groups I am part of.
This was a very moving story about a mother’s love for her son. Sebastian is 20 years old, autistic, and desperate to lose his virginity. His mother’s choices after many vising professionals for help are somewhat dubious, but they are choices made with love and compassion. Isabelle struggles in her own life, having made some sketchy decisions herself but again with the best intentions and plenty of love. When they all come together things, don’t turn out as planned but what results is a beautiful love story of different kinds of love, of moving on, of growing up and changing.
The characters are fantastic; I connected well with them all. I particularly liked Sebastian and Honeybee (Isabelle), but Veronica also has a special place in my heart. The sentiment of the book and the characters was lovely to read about.
The book’s pace is just right, not too fast, or slow and allows the reader to absorb everything that’s happening along the way. It’s written well and with great sensitivity to the subjects. It’s full of emotional strength and fortitude and, overall, a very heart-warming tale.
The ending was also lovely but not as expected. Reading a book about a neurodivergent character in his own voice and thoughts was adorable. It could have been a biography being so well written but refreshing to see things from another point of view. Sebastian’s need to know everything and discuss it with him and the way his mother deals with this was great to see.
| Title | This Is How We Are Human |
| Author | Louise Beech |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | Kindle |
| Page Count | 289 Pages |
| Genre | Contemporary |
| Publisher | ORENDA BOOKS |
| Release Date | 10 April 2021 |
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