The Heart's Invisible Furies

Catherine gathers her bag, which was packed by her family, and a few other things from her room before departing for the train. She keeps the one-way train ticket to Dublin safe in her purse, feeling the ticket symbolizes “the beginning of her new life” (12).

Catherine is unlike other girls her age; she is brave and built for independence after a life in the shadow of her brothers. On the bus, a man a couple of years older than Catherine sits down beside her and starts a conversation. She is standoffish at first, but soon notices he is handsome and friendly; she introduces herself. The man is Seán MacIntyre, and he is on his way to Dublin to find work at a Guinness Brewery with his friend and leave behind his dysfunctional family. Catherine admits her father often gets drunk and hits his wife, and Seán admits his father drinks too. Catherine feels an odd trust for the stranger already and tells him “without an ounce of shame” (17) that she is having a baby alone. Seán reacts with understanding. Catherine wonders how she will find work, and Seán insists that with her good looks it shouldn’t be difficult. In his role as narrator, Cyril foreshadows Seán’s death when he notes that Catherine only considers a life with Seán for a brief moment.

Seán’s friend in Dublin, Jack Smoot, is not as friendly and vibrant as Seán; he has a darker, more brooding aura. Jack is waiting for Seán at the station, and when Catherine is introduced, Jack seems suspicious and unwilling to accommodate her. Seán pleads with Jack, insisting it will only be for a couple of days. When Jack sees that Catherine is pregnant, he further protests but eventually relents.

Smoot leads Catherine and Seán through the city to his flat, and Catherine marvels at the bustling diversity. When they reach Jack’s flat, they are led up a narrow staircase to a single room with a tub, sink, and sofa, and a bedroom alongside.

Two weeks pass, and Catherine is still living at Jack’s flat. Catherine sits in the bedroom while Seán is in the bath as he complains about his job at the brewery; he is considering a job in journalism instead. Catherine announces she has a job interview to become a servant at the Dáil (parliament) and purchased a wedding ring to avoid any questions about her pregnancy. Seán confesses that Jack is considering moving to Amsterdam to open a pub. Jack comes home and starts speaking tenderly to Seán, who warns him to stop while Catherine is around.

Catherine goes to her interview and presents herself as Mrs. Goggin. The interviewer, Mrs. Hennessy, falls for Catherine’s story of losing her husband in the war. She is hesitant to give Catherine a job designed for single women to look pleasing as they serve tea to elderly gentleman, but Catherine convinces her.

Catherine goes home and offers Jack and Seán two options: She can leave the next week or leave after the baby is born and continue contributing until then. Both Seán and Jack agree that she should stay.

Catherine finds her new job demanding and is placed in a subordinate and sexist position of serving elected officials their tea and biscuits. There are only four female elected officials, and they avoid the servers at all costs.

Mrs. Hennessy regretfully announces that Catherine’s time as a tea girl is over, as the men are complaining that her pregnant condition puts them off. Catherine is irritated with this excuse, but respects Mrs. Hennessy and knows it’s not her choosing. She wonders if her firing was due to being late, as a strange man (Seán’s father) was outside her door that morning and caused her to be delayed. Catherine admits that she plans to give her baby up for adoption, and that she was never married at all; at this, Mrs. Hennessy confesses that she became pregnant as a teenager as well, and that her father—the father of the baby—drowned the infant the moment it was born before banishing her much like Catherine had been. Mrs. Hennessy says that Catherine can come back to her position once the baby has been given up, but she warns Catherine that she will never be able to forget her child.

When Catherine arrives home, the same man is standing outside. He is clearly drunk and comments on Catherine’s pregnancy, insulting her. He questions her for living with a couple of “queer fellas” (44), and Catherine starts to put the pieces together: Jack and Seán are lovers. The man demands that Catherine allow him inside; she refuses, but he pushes past her and breaks down the door. He finds Seán naked in the bedroom with Jack, and begins smashing his head, beating him with a stick, and swearing at him. Seán begs his father to stop, and Catherine and Jack both attempt to defend Seán, but Seán’s father beats Seán to death. When Catherine charges at Seán’s father, he kicks her down the stairs. Suddenly, she starts to feel the pangs of labor. Because Seán’s father has turned his rage on Jack, Catherine climbs the stairs and uses Jack’s stick to knock Seán’s father out. She holds Jack as he lies on the floor barely conscious and soon gives birth to Cyril : “I had arrived, I was born…. I was part of it all at last” (48).

Seven years later, Cyril is living with his adoptive parents, Charles and Maude Avery in their home at Dartmouth Square, Dublin. They treat Cyril strictly as an adopted son, openly reminding him that he is not “a real Avery” (52). He was named after a dog they used to have. Charles is in the middle of a conflict at his workplace, the Bank of Ireland, for various acts including illegal gambling, paying for sex work, and tax evasion. Maude and Charles’s relationship is more like a business partnership; they’re not affectionate and rarely speak. Maude writes novels for a living. One day, Cyril asks about his biological parents, and Maude admits she knows virtually nothing about them.

At school, Cyril is shy, having a stutter that comes and goes. When word gets out that Charles is in the middle of a scandal, Cyril copes by remaining silent for long periods; he starts to realize there is something different about him. When Charles hires a solicitor and friend named Max Woodbead to help clear his name, Cyril meets Max’s son, Julian. Julian has piercing blue eyes and a calming presence, and Cyril realizes that not only does he not feel shy around Julian, but that his stutter disappears around him, too.

Both Cyril and Julian are raised in wealthy families that provide them with everything but what they need most: love. On the day that they meet, Cyril invites Julian to see his bedroom, then realizes Julian is the first peer he has invited there. Through Julian, Cyril learns of norms like having parents sleep in the same bed, knowing girls, and what sex is. In a moment of childish humor and misunderstanding, Julian brags about how he wants to be a pervert when he grows up, and Cyril agrees that sounds like a good idea. Julian suggests that they show each other their penises, and Cyril experiences a feeling he never has before. He excitedly agrees, and realizes he has intimate feelings for boys, not girls.

Just then, Maude walks into the room She is surprised to see that Cyril has company and appears sickly as a result of a recent lack of appetite. Upon talking to Julian, Maude starts to favor him. Cyril does not realize until years later that Maude flirts with Julian. When Maude returns to her writing, Julian tells Cyril about his experience visiting a prison with his father. Julian mentions a man who was in jail for murdering his wife, and how Julian’s father was sure that because the man’s wife had been a “whore” (71), the man would likely be forgiven.

Throughout his childhood, Cyril wonders why his adoptive parents are together and if they ever loved one another. He notes the stark contrast in responses when he asks each of them this question. Charles tells Cyril a story about his first wife in his early twenties, who ended her life shortly after finding out that Charles was cheating on her, and the way he met and became infatuated with Maude. Their passion dwindled over time; Charles sought other lovers while Maude did not. According to Maude, “It might have been a Wednesday” (74).

Charles comes home early and sober. Cyril ironically is concerned, as Charles is usually drunk and home late. When Max finds out that several of the jurors on Charles’s trial have secrets that could defame them, he suggests inviting them to dinner to get them on Charles’s side. Charles instructs Cyril to behave, to lie about his relationship with Charles, and to call him “Father” for that night alone. Maude complains about having to dine with “working-class people” (81), but Charles insists it’s essential to avoid him going to jail. When Cyril asks whether the judge would take issue with the dinner, Charles replies that it was the judge’s idea.

The jurors are a mix of immoral people, including a schoolteacher who is a pedophile, a man who flashes young girls at night, and a bus driver with an obsession with pornography. Charles lies and tells them that they were invited there due to an unfortunate coincidence. Another attendee happens to be Mrs. Hennessy, the same woman who hired Catherine seven years prior. She regularly calls the men out on their bravado and misogyny throughout the dinner. One man, Denis, acts perversely toward Cyril, talking to him in a tone that makes Cyril uncomfortable. Maude asks when they plan to discuss the reason for the dinner. This panics Charles, who is trying to deceive the jurors, but Maude tells a dramatic story about her love for Charles, Cyril having cancer, and her fear of losing them both. Just as Mrs. Hennessy asks Cyril what type of cancer he has, Max Woodbead bursts into the house. Enraged, he tackles Charles and punches him.

Cyril eavesdrops as Maude and Charles argue on the porch after Max’s attack on Charles for having an affair with his wife. Maude lectures Charles for his foolish choice and potential of going to jail, and Charles tries to assert his masculinity and superiority. Before leaving that night, Mrs. Hennessy speaks to Cyril briefly, lamenting at the state of his home life and hinting at the secret that Max Woodbead threatened to expose (her teenage pregnancy). She looks at Cyril and says he seems familiar but dismisses the notion and leaves.

On the day of the verdict hearing, Maude and Cyril go to the courthouse. A woman sits beside Maude and asks her to autograph a book for her, and Maude is completely repulsed. Mrs. Hennessy announces a guilty verdict, and Charles proudly requests that he begin his sentence immediately. He remarks, “I’m just glad I don’t have any children to witness this moment of degradation” (101), confusing everyone who believes Cyril to be his biological child. After the hearing, Maude approaches the man who led the financial investigation against Charles and blames him for her newfound popularity as a writer.