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Horace Winter Says Goodbye
Meet Horace Winter and fall in love with life again in this bestselling novel - perfect reading for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
'Horace Winter is a character who will linger long after you've finished this highly original, moving, funny and elegant book' Irish Independent
'A journey that is both tender and sad, but a joy to witness. A moving and truly absorbing read' Image
'A quirky, tender and compulsive read. Horace Winter will win your heart' Irish Examiner
Horace Winter doesn't have friends. Ever since the long-ago day when the Very Bad Thing happened, he prefers to spend his time studying butterflies - less intimidating, less likely to disappoint.
The last thing he wants is to retire from his job at the bank, but he has no choice - and now faces an endless number of empty days where he has nowhere to go and no one to need him.
Then he receives some surprising news. And he meets Amanda, and Max, and discovers a mysterious letter his father never posted. Suddenly he finds his previously unexceptional life filled with important things to do. Before he'd thought he had too much time. Now he may be looking at not enough. But can he find the courage he's sought for so long to finally start living?
'Horace Winter is a character who will linger long after you've finished this highly original, moving, funny and elegant book' Irish Independent
'A journey that is both tender and sad, but a joy to witness. A moving and truly absorbing read' Image
'A quirky, tender and compulsive read. Horace Winter will win your heart' Irish Examiner
Horace Winter doesn't have friends. Ever since the long-ago day when the Very Bad Thing happened, he prefers to spend his time studying butterflies - less intimidating, less likely to disappoint.
The last thing he wants is to retire from his job at the bank, but he has no choice - and now faces an endless number of empty days where he has nowhere to go and no one to need him.
Then he receives some surprising news. And he meets Amanda, and Max, and discovers a mysterious letter his father never posted. Suddenly he finds his previously unexceptional life filled with important things to do. Before he'd thought he had too much time. Now he may be looking at not enough. But can he find the courage he's sought for so long to finally start living?
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2017
3 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 11, 2017
After spending his whole working life at the bank, Horace is faced with the prospect of retirement. Initially he does not handle it well. He has lived with his mother, caring for her until she died a couple of years earlier. Now he has to find something to do with his life after a solitary, friendless life with a mother who barley tolerated him. He has regrets for several things especially failing his leaving certificate when he was young and the consequences of that and other decisions made in life. Horace does have a long held interest in butterflies and classifies all people as either butterflies or moths.
Into his life comes Amanda who helps him find another way of looking at life and retirement. This is a poignant and, at times, amusing story as Horace seeks to set right some of the mistakes he feels he has made in life. It is easy for Horace to gain our sympathy. This gentle story is very much character driven, about one of those people who, for whatever reason, never seem to quite fit in with the rest of society. As the story goes on, the reader is given insights into the events in his past that shaped Horace’s life. I found this a charming read about an interesting, if somewhat unusual, character.
The author's note at the end was an interesting addition.
Into his life comes Amanda who helps him find another way of looking at life and retirement. This is a poignant and, at times, amusing story as Horace seeks to set right some of the mistakes he feels he has made in life. It is easy for Horace to gain our sympathy. This gentle story is very much character driven, about one of those people who, for whatever reason, never seem to quite fit in with the rest of society. As the story goes on, the reader is given insights into the events in his past that shaped Horace’s life. I found this a charming read about an interesting, if somewhat unusual, character.
The author's note at the end was an interesting addition.
November 3, 2017
It seems lately that I’ve read a lot of books about old people who start out grumpy but end up being changed by the people around them..... this was another one that I ended up really enjoying. It was such a quirky yet sweet, heartwarming, sad but happy story that I can highly recommend.
March 14, 2019
3.5 stars
July 7, 2017
Horace Winter is not taking retirement too well. After working 48 years in the same bank, he is finding it hard to let go. So hard, in fact, that the bank takes out a restraining order against him. He is socially awkward, has no friends, and his life seems to have no meaning any more. His love of butterflies and moths are not enough to battle his intense loneliness. When a neighbour discovers him collapsed at his doorstep, she invites herself into his world and teaches him that “life is full of endless possibilities”.
Horace is someone we all know. A solitary figure with a love of routine and lack of confidence. He still regrets failing his Leaving Cert English exam, almost 50 years earlier, and feels responsible for a young child inadvertently being taken into care. He sets out to rectify these incidents and his days take on new meaning. However, he is not a young man, and his health is failing. Amending past errors is not quite as easy as he thought. A humorous and endearing novel with a truly charming protagonist.
Horace is someone we all know. A solitary figure with a love of routine and lack of confidence. He still regrets failing his Leaving Cert English exam, almost 50 years earlier, and feels responsible for a young child inadvertently being taken into care. He sets out to rectify these incidents and his days take on new meaning. However, he is not a young man, and his health is failing. Amending past errors is not quite as easy as he thought. A humorous and endearing novel with a truly charming protagonist.
March 23, 2017
Not quite ove but cute nevertheless.
November 18, 2021
I just loved this book! It tells the story of Horace and how events of his childhood impacted upon how he viewed himself as an adult. I have long been of the view that our words and actions as adults can have a profound effect on children and this book confirms that opinion. It reminded me of events in my own childhood and adolescence and stirred memories that were buried deep into my subconscious. Thank you Conor Bowman for introducing me to Horace Winter. What a wonderful and empathetic story he had to tell.
June 28, 2018
A gorgeous tale about a man with an uneventful life, who is forced to confront the ghosts of his past before his future runs out.
Horace Winter is quick to win hearts because of his gentle vulnerability and his naïve and often skewed outlook on a world that is harsh and critical in return. Questionably on the autism spectrum, Horace makes for a beautiful unreliable narrator, erring in social thought and propriety and yet always having the noblest of intentions.
Classifying people as either butterflies or moths, according to their level of kindness and humanity, Horace eventually has to turn his diagnosis more closely homeward - to those he has loved, and been loved by, however imperfectly - and finally, to himself. The one he most fears to diagnose. Do his past deeds make him a butterfly, or a moth? And can people be classified so simply?
Conor Bowman is a concise and restrained writer, whose understated humour, emotion and storytelling enhances what is a sweet and sorry story of a man fumbling his way towards meaning at the end of an unfulfilling life. Full of misunderstandings, troubled familial relationships, loneliness, guilt, abandonment and unrequited love, the end of this novel is both surprising and bitter-sweet.
I look forward to reading more of Conor Bowman's novels in future!
Horace Winter is quick to win hearts because of his gentle vulnerability and his naïve and often skewed outlook on a world that is harsh and critical in return. Questionably on the autism spectrum, Horace makes for a beautiful unreliable narrator, erring in social thought and propriety and yet always having the noblest of intentions.
Classifying people as either butterflies or moths, according to their level of kindness and humanity, Horace eventually has to turn his diagnosis more closely homeward - to those he has loved, and been loved by, however imperfectly - and finally, to himself. The one he most fears to diagnose. Do his past deeds make him a butterfly, or a moth? And can people be classified so simply?
Conor Bowman is a concise and restrained writer, whose understated humour, emotion and storytelling enhances what is a sweet and sorry story of a man fumbling his way towards meaning at the end of an unfulfilling life. Full of misunderstandings, troubled familial relationships, loneliness, guilt, abandonment and unrequited love, the end of this novel is both surprising and bitter-sweet.
I look forward to reading more of Conor Bowman's novels in future!
April 5, 2017
Horace Winter has had a sad life. He's retired from a job he held for 47 years and lived with his mother until she died a couple of years ago. When an unexpected medical diagnosis has him deciding to live his life more fully, he makes friends with Amanda and young Max. He teaches Max all about butterflies and moths in the hope that when he grows up he'll enjoy their beauty. Amanda becomes a good friend and caretaker as Horace gives in to his illness. A wonderful story of an older man who grows and begins to enjoy his life. The people who populate this story are flawed but enjoyable. It reiterates that childhood shapes your life but you do have the power of choice to change your ways.
July 23, 2017
Everyone else can talk about the plot, but the number one reason I loved this book came at the end, in a postscript from the author. For the past couple months, a large butterfly appears near my kitchen door and I always say hello to my mom, who passed in January. I found great comfort in this gentle, sweet book. I thought I had the book figured out at the end, about his companion. A wonderful book about life, death, mortality, and forgiveness.
September 30, 2020
Hachette Ireland and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Horace Winter Says Goodbye. I voluntarily chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.
Horace Winter has his job and not much else in his life. When he is involuntarily retired from the bank at 65, Horace finds that there is nothing remarkable to fill his days. After discovering a mysterious letter, will the man find his purpose?
Horace Winter Says Goodbye was not as depressing as I was expecting and was, in fact, uplifting in places. I wish the author had spent more time developing Amanda's character, as she becomes very central to the plot. The woman just appears as part of the plot and the reader is not given enough information to really flesh out her motivations. Horace Winter Says Goodbye does remind me of A Man Called Ove, as well as Millard Salter's Last Day, though there are a few differences. Horace is a much more likable character and his fixation on butterflies leads to some interesting observations on his part. Overall, I would recommend Horace Winter Says Goodbye to other readers and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Horace Winter has his job and not much else in his life. When he is involuntarily retired from the bank at 65, Horace finds that there is nothing remarkable to fill his days. After discovering a mysterious letter, will the man find his purpose?
Horace Winter Says Goodbye was not as depressing as I was expecting and was, in fact, uplifting in places. I wish the author had spent more time developing Amanda's character, as she becomes very central to the plot. The woman just appears as part of the plot and the reader is not given enough information to really flesh out her motivations. Horace Winter Says Goodbye does remind me of A Man Called Ove, as well as Millard Salter's Last Day, though there are a few differences. Horace is a much more likable character and his fixation on butterflies leads to some interesting observations on his part. Overall, I would recommend Horace Winter Says Goodbye to other readers and I look forward to reading more by this author.
September 22, 2017
What a beautiful book. At first I thought I wouldn’t read it all because I thought Horace was depressed and then I thought that I just don’t get British humor. But then, Horace began to live and I kept on reading and found myself feeling his every emotion. By the end I knew Horace better than I thought I could and loved him.
I’m not good at reviews; I either say too much and spoil it or don’t say anything at all and just give stars. But some books, like this one, make me want to share why I liked the story rather than what it was about. You can get a good synopsis elsewhere.
My father also fought in WWII, and was wounded in Germany and then again in France. Helping Horace find his father in those battlefields brought back so much for me!
Really, a beautiful read. A tremendous, gentle, powerful story. Take your time and savor it. Get to know the moths and butterflies. Horace finally found himself among them, and discovered a happiness and a love of life that will drive you on to find your own.
I’m not good at reviews; I either say too much and spoil it or don’t say anything at all and just give stars. But some books, like this one, make me want to share why I liked the story rather than what it was about. You can get a good synopsis elsewhere.
My father also fought in WWII, and was wounded in Germany and then again in France. Helping Horace find his father in those battlefields brought back so much for me!
Really, a beautiful read. A tremendous, gentle, powerful story. Take your time and savor it. Get to know the moths and butterflies. Horace finally found himself among them, and discovered a happiness and a love of life that will drive you on to find your own.
March 25, 2020
Horace is lovely and a really appealing character. He does kind of remind me of' Harold Fry' or' A man called Ove'. He is not grumpy but lonely and rather sad.
He is a butterfly and moth collector sees everyone as either one or the other and identifies them. He feels guilty about so many small incidences in his life and after his retirement at the bank, he is at a loss as to how to fill his life.
He discovers he is not well and is inspired by a neighbour who befriends him to investigate his father's D day landing and the reason for a letter to one of his comrades that never got posted.
The novel wanders around a bit as Horace's mind wanders and sometimes it is a bit confusing when he is following his random trains of thought.
It is not really an uplifting book and the humour is sort of rather black humour .
It s interesting and different but not a page turner.
He is a butterfly and moth collector sees everyone as either one or the other and identifies them. He feels guilty about so many small incidences in his life and after his retirement at the bank, he is at a loss as to how to fill his life.
He discovers he is not well and is inspired by a neighbour who befriends him to investigate his father's D day landing and the reason for a letter to one of his comrades that never got posted.
The novel wanders around a bit as Horace's mind wanders and sometimes it is a bit confusing when he is following his random trains of thought.
It is not really an uplifting book and the humour is sort of rather black humour .
It s interesting and different but not a page turner.
October 19, 2018
It started out rather a depressing book as I felt Horace’s isolation and inability to fit in. He had not been loved by his Mother who it turned out blamed him, as a 5 year old, for the death of his baby sister. His father had died when he was young. So he hadn’t a lot going for him and when he is made to retire doesn’t know what else to do with his life. Then Amanda appears on the scene and gently coaxes him to start getting some answers to things that had bothered him.
Although it was very sad in parts ultimately it showed the power of the human spirit to triumph over disaster.
Although it was very sad in parts ultimately it showed the power of the human spirit to triumph over disaster.
August 28, 2017
Horace Winter has led what appears to be an uneventful, rather sad, life, his father having died when he was young, living with his mother until her death, spending his days working as an assistant manager of a local bank and his spare time learning about butterflies and moths. Then suddenly he is pushed into retirement and receives a devastating prognosis and, with the help of a neighbor, sets off on a quest that forces him to confront his life and changes everything.
October 2, 2017
The story was endearing and simple. It reminded me a lot of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold and A Man Called Ove though I liked those two better. I think it was the font that I didn't like the most. I also found this story a bit too simple, it needed something more. It was sadder than I'd have liked.
September 25, 2018
This was a Book Group choice and I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. I got the sense it was going to be in the vein of A Man Called Ove, which I loved. And it is similar. I enjoyed the author's writing style and it is a very sweet, poignant book. I'm glad I read it but I'm not sure whether Horace is going to stay with me in quite the way that Ove did.
July 24, 2017
Interesting
July 28, 2017
This is a seriously quirky story. Horace is one of the most cleverly-crafted individuals in a long time. Be prepared to learn a lot about butterflies and moths in a neat book.
October 9, 2017
A very enjoyable, if a little sad, read.
October 17, 2017
Definitely a "out of the box" type story. Sad yet heartwarming.
November 24, 2017
Sort of Ove, but not.
January 12, 2018
This is not an Ove or an Arthur Truluv!
March 29, 2018
****** SPOILER ALERT ****
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Amanda's not real???? what? flip sake.
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Amanda's not real???? what? flip sake.
April 26, 2018
Sadly sweet. Let yourself let go of the past.
December 27, 2018
Loved it. Beautifully written and such a lovable main character. Loved the butterfly and moth comparisons. I want to give it more than 5 stars!
January 16, 2019
What a sad depressing life!
August 25, 2019
Ouch. Right in the feels 😭💖
May 1, 2020
It's emptying, but in a nice way. And in the end, it's not all that spectacular, but the character is still very memorable.
June 15, 2020
A bit of nonsense along the lines of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews