On 20 October, a small group gathered for the latest DEG Book Club meeting to discuss Annie Hartnett’s novel The Road to Tender Hearts. Although opinions varied slightly, everyone had enjoyed the book and its unusual combination of tragedy, absurdity and warmth.
The novel follows 63-year-old PJ Halliday, a lottery winner whose life has been shaped by the death of his eldest daughter, the breakdown of his marriage and his increasingly heavy drinking. When he discovers that his high-school sweetheart Michelle is now widowed, he decides to drive from Massachusetts to Arizona in the hope of winning her back.
His romantic mission soon turns into a rather unconventional family road trip. PJ is joined by his estranged adult daughter Sophie, two recently orphaned children, Ollie and Luna, and Pancakes, a cat with the uncanny ability to sense when someone is about to die. What begins as PJ’s attempt to recover an idealised version of his past gradually becomes a journey towards responsibility, reconciliation and a new understanding of family.
Our discussion focused on the way Hartnett combines extremely dark subjects with humour and eccentric characters. We talked about grief, addiction, childhood trauma and the long-term consequences of avoiding responsibility. At the same time, the novel explores second chances, forgiveness and the possibility that people can still change later in life.
The relationship between PJ and Sophie led to a particularly interesting discussion. PJ can be generous, affectionate and funny, but he has also repeatedly failed his daughter. This raised the question of whether understanding the reasons for someone’s behaviour necessarily means forgiving it. We also considered whether love alone is enough to make someone a good parent or caregiver, or whether genuine care must always be accompanied by reliability.
Another central topic was the meaning of family. The travellers begin as a group of damaged and disconnected individuals, but gradually form their own improvised family through shared experiences and acts of care. The road trip also forces PJ to turn away from his nostalgic pursuit of the past and pay attention to the people who need him in the present.
And then there was the death count. The group tried to estimate just how many people die during the novel, but an exact total proved surprisingly difficult to establish. In addition to several individual deaths, some of the book’s more spectacular disasters involve an unspecified number of victims. What everyone agreed on was that the body count is extraordinarily high for such a warm-hearted and ultimately hopeful book.
Despite all this death, The Road to Tender Hearts is primarily a novel about choosing to live, love and care for others while there is still time. It gave our small group plenty to discuss and made for a thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable evening.
Next pick: “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
At the end of the evening, the group chose its next book: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. The novel tells the story of Tova Sullivan, a widow who works the night shift at an aquarium, and her unlikely friendship with Marcellus, a highly intelligent giant Pacific octopus. Combining mystery, humour and emotional depth, the book explores loneliness, loss, friendship and the unexpected connections that can help people move forward.
DEG Book Club score
As part of our ongoing effort to reflect on and celebrate the books we’ve explored together, the DEG Book Club is compiling a running list of all past and current reads, complete with average star ratings (1 to 10) as given by our participants. This list will serve as a shared memory of our literary journey – and a helpful guide for anyone looking for thoughtful, diverse reading recommendations. Participants are encouraged to rate each book after our discussion and these are the ratings so far:
| 1. “Hamnet” – Maggie O’Farrell | September 25 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 9) |
| 2. “The Road to Tender Hearts” – Annie Hartnett | August 26 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 8.5) |
| 3. “To Kill a Mocking Bird” – Harper Lee | July 25 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 8.4) |
| 4. “The Shipping News” – Annie Proulx | May 25 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 7.75) |
| 5. “What we can know” – Ian McEwan | April 26 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 7.5) |
| 6. “The Road to Little Dribbling” – Bill Bryson | February 26 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 5.8) |
| 7. “Going Zero” – Anthony Mc Carten | March 25 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 5.75) |
| 8. “The Marmalade Diaries” – Ben Aitkin | June 26 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 5.66) |
| 9. “The Body” – Stephen King | July 25 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 5,63) |
10. “Yesteryear” – Caro Claire Burke | June 26 pick | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (average of 5,57) |
using WordPress and