Staff Pick: The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells

This story is not for the faint of heart. Wells’ novel is about Jules Moreau, who is, along with his two siblings, orphaned when their parents are killed in a car crash. This tale begins with heartbreak and continues with a sombre, melancholy questioning of the purpose of suffering – and really, of life itself.

We follow Jules through his childhood in a state boarding school and meet his closest friend and first love, Alva. Their friendship abruptly ends when they leave school, and we grow up with Jules into his 30s when he reconnects with Alva. Suddenly his meaningless life is turned upside down and he is faced with the biggest questions: what is important to him and what will he take to get it?

What struck me the most throughout this book was the depth and significance of Jules’ relationships with his older brother and sister. In any season of his life, Jules holds an unshakable love with them that offers him beauty and hope in the darkest of times. A love always present with him. Though the novel is sad, that indescribable bond of siblings offers the reader an understanding of something pure that can hardly be described but deeply felt.

I finished the book feeling that my life had been greatly enriched. Weaving philosophical questions with a coming of age story, this novel will be cherished by anyone who thinks that life is defined by how you choose to live it.

Borrow The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells.

Marguerite Stevenson, library assistant, Walkinstown Library.