House of Hearts

by Francesca Lia Block

Izzy Ames lives with her high school sweetheart, Cyrus Rivera, in the Salton Sea. They cling to each other and to their close friends Nephy and Seth to cope with the trauma of their pasts. Until the morning Izzy awakes to find Cyrus has vanished.

When she realizes no one will help, Izzy takes matters into her own hands and decides to search for Cyrus alone. After weeks of looking for him, she discovers a clue that leads her to the House of Hearts retreat center run by the mysterious Sky. At House of Hearts, Izzy meets an intriguing musician named Ever Fontana and for a moment she is able to forget the pain of her past. But when new clues about Cyrus’ disappearance surface, Izzy must go down into the dark to find the truth.

Izzy’s quest will take her into a world of sexuality, madness, and violence, where she will discover life-changing secrets not only about Cyrus but, ultimately, about herself.

Genres: Fiction

232 pages, Hardcover

Published June 14, 2022

About the author

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new FLB book is always a treat and this one exceeded my expectations. Worth a read for the lush prose that describes the Salton Sea and surrounding landscape, the plot kept me up until I finished it and I am not one to stay up late to read these days. Beautiful and strange, bleak at times, and utterly captivating. Am I biased because I love the author? Oh, probably, but that shouldn't stop you from reading it.

[Tim Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dreamy, dry, and seductively dreary, the desert comes alive in House of Hearts.
Francesca Lia Block always captures the otherworldliness of Southern California like no other writer. This one is a modern retelling of an ancient myth.
It's mysterious, intoxicating, suspenseful, and satisfying.

[Marie M · Rating 5 out of 5]

She should work with this editor/publishing house forever - it's one of my favorite FLB novels in years.

[Laura Foxworthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, brutal and beautiful. Each chapter named after a song. I will not forget Izzy/Aurora or the Salton Sea anytime soon, if ever. Amazing.

[Megan Block · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this 200 page book over a week, should have been a leisurely Sunday read. The plot lends itself to a short story. The incredible unnecessary filigree in between the plot made it almost incomprehensible. I love F Block I have read a pile of her stuff and a few are favorites of mine from my YA teenage years. But this, I had to force myself to finish. Slow and disjointed.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

FLB has been a favorite author for 25 years and I was excited to read this one. Unfortunately, I found it hard to get through and considered quitting a few times. I disliked the characters and didn't care what happened to the missing Cyrus. The twist at the end was weird and meh. My favorite thing was the chapter titles named after Tori Amos and PJ Harvey songs.

[Kimberly Dorst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Francesca always delights the senses with her descriptions, but this book seems to touch more on the primal desires and deep emotions that drive all of us.

As someone who grew up with her writing since high school, it’s so rewarding to see how her style has evolved, changed, grown. House of Hearts is both captivating and devastating, and it feels like Francesca is holding your hand along this journey, letting you know it’s okay to feel, and that hope is not ever as lost as you think.

I simply cannot wait to read her next novel. Forever a fan.

[Francesca Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly Disappointed

I enjoyed reading this novel, and the character of Izzy was a delight. I know this was a desert novel, but the book seemed a bit more spare than Block's usual luscious prose. Also, some of the characters felt more like symbols than people. The story is very compelling, though.

[Justina N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Bad things happen in the desert” begins Francesca Lia Block’s latest darkly enchanting page turner. From the moment I read those words while still standing at the mailbox—open box from Rare Bird Books in hand—I could not stop until the final page. Then I immediately read the book again.

Block snagged more than my interest with a well written story. Her protagonist Izzy Ames climbed straight into my soul. Along the surreal, chemically altered, and decimated Salton Sea Izzy carves a life of beauty. She clings to handsome dark-haired, green-eyed partner Cyrus. They shelter within the cocoon of their intensely close friendship with fellow couple Nephy and Seth, companions since adolescence. Together they create art, gardens, and a family to heal wounds carried from youth. Although not prosperous it appears the characters are otherwise blessed. Until one morning Cyrus vanishes without a trace.

A potentially simple missing person’s tale transforms into something complex, mystical, socially relevant, and moving through Block’s expert touch. Izzy wanders diverse paths in search of her love. Some pull her towards the gut-wrenching avenues of Missing Person’s sites. Others are far more esoteric. Involvement with the mysterious House of Hearts will lead her to the intriguing Ever as well as far more than Cyrus’ whereabouts. Izzy’s search for her lover metamorphosizes Francesca Lia BlockFrancesca Lia Blockinto a concurrent tale of her journey towards self-actualization.

House of Hearts expertly interweaves the Egyptian legend of gods Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephthys as more than a parable. The four characters of Izzy, Cyrus, Seth, and Nephys are manipulated towards living a myth they don’t comprehend. New Age cult leader, Sky, offers followers redemption within the legend’s framework. Underlying themes of environmental destruction leading to renewal symbolized by Osiris’ death then rebirth are also strongly felt. Most of all the novel contains multiple shocking twists that Block uses to pull everything into a satisfying and cohesive whole.

I resonated strongly with Izzy. We’re both artistic souls who love hard and who chose families. I also woke up one morning to discover that my idyllic life with my love was not what I thought. Izzy remains with me weeks after reading because her pain, heartbreak, shock, and hope are poignantly believable. Like the goddess for whom she is named Izzy Ames does not remain mired in grief or anger. She discovers her strength. She protects what is important to her. Metaphorically she grows wings like Isis and lifts herself up from an untenable situation. Francesca Lia Block again brings readers a young goddess rising from the desert, capable of saving herself.

[Juliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Izzy was used to strange things happening; her whole life had been strange.” Francesca Lia Block warns you, very early in House of Hearts, that strange things happen, but literally nothing will prepare you for just how strange this novel gets. It’s WILD. Izzy and Cyrus, who live by their friends Nephy and Seth, have been in a happy, healthy relationship for a long time when Cyrus vanishes, without warning, in the middle of the night; this sets off a chain reaction that affects this close-knit friendship group (“They were all damaged, weren’t they, in different ways?”), and so many of the other people in their lives. “Izzy had been raised in a dead place, found Cyrus, devoted her life to him.” Much of this novel is concerned with attachment and need, what is shared, and what cannot be shared, between two people: “She could feel his heart beating — yes, it was still there”, and “It was decided, then, between them.” And much of the novel focuses on the horrors of the world, its unfairness, and how to make meaning from that — “Grief, yes. Everyone had so much grief.” “You were born to make beauty in the slaughterhouse of the world.” Set around California, from the imposing coast to the Joshua Tree mines, from the small-town constraints to the possibilities of wellness cults and the spiritual, beginning as an intimate mystery, becomes a vast psychological study in fate, will, and the stories we tell ourselves.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about therapeutic transformations and transmutations, mystical lands and mysterious figures, as strange as the Salton Sea where these characters start their journey.

Like with all of FLB's beloved books, the magic is in the details and depths of emotion carried within each character. And I so love these characters and all their flaws. I also adore FLB's personal continuation of exploration myths--specifically the beauty and tragedy of Egyptian myths in connection to California.

I know some other readers might yearn for the early days of Weetzie and her bubblegum LA and punk baddies with mohawks, but there's such presence in FLB's adult fiction that we, as longtime readers and devoted fans, can also appreciate especially with the clarity of age. I know I for one will be doing a reread when I'm in my 40s (aka soon...)

[Louise Rozett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Francesca's new book, House of Hearts, is a painful, mysterious, mythological trip through trauma, grief, and reclamation of self against all odds set in the Salton Sea. When Izzy's long-time love, Cyrus, goes missing and no one seems particularly concerned, Izzy sets out to find him herself and winds up at House of Hearts, a retreat center in the business of delving into—perhaps even dismantling—psyches. As always, Francesca brings her deep, mythological connection to place to her work—the setting in House of Hearts is so beautifully and ominously rendered that the unrelenting desert is in your veins before the end of the first chapter. The journey will inspire and galvanize you...

[Jack Skelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

House of Hearts updates Gothic tropes and mythic themes with a 1990s Southern California high desert setting. Mysterious mood includes a satisfying musical structure invoking songs from PJ Harvey etc. Previously, the author also championed edgy female singers in her super successful Weetzie Bat series... subsequently radicalizing with an organic feminism a whole generation of young adult readers. Or so I have been told by some of her many fans. My book fetishes veer more towards not-so-narrative, experimental/literary fiction and verse. And yet I grooved to the dark sexy vibe of this novel.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Francesca Lia Block’s newest novel does not disappoint! With gorgeous prose and descriptions, what starts as a sweet love story plumbs the darkest of depths. Tears streamed down my face as I read a good chunk of it due to personal experience with grief. Her descriptions transport the reader into all of the locations and you’re easily able to envision this story as it plays out. Beautifully written and darkly haunting - my favorite kind.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weaving together the cryptic beauty and harsh reality of the Sonoran/Colorado desert and the Salton Sea, House of Hearts transposes an ancient myth into a modern story of profound grief, betrayal, trauma, and rebirth of the self in the Southern California of the late 2010s. Both beautiful and, at times, brutal, Block once again delivers a magnificent read that won’t soon be forgotten.

[Erin Weeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I became obsessed with this book and FLB’s beautiful language from the first few chapters. I always love what she writes, but this book was amazing. The twists were so unexpected and I finished the book feeling like my heart was breaking for Izzy (but also healing for her too). I just finished it and already know that I won’t be able to stop thinking about this book!

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally bizarre, absolutely heartbreaking. A woman deeply in love with her partner wakes up one day - and he's gone. Where did he go? What happened? As the different layers unfold, secrets about Izzy, about her partner, and her very good friends begin to unfold. Sadness, heartbreak, perseverance, and love. Beautiful and painful read.

[darby · Rating 5 out of 5]

so compelling and riveting. I wasn’t sure at first if it would hold itself together and meet the high, high quality of other FLB novels I’ve read, but it surpassed expectations. So gorgeous, characters I fell into and became and fell into love with. Just love love love I’m so happy

[Deandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's my favorite author for a reason. I loved it.

[Alexandra Ruiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

WTF??

[Allison Floyd]

GUTGed on page 40. The characters are twee and annoying AF and the whole thing just feels like more of the same.

[Amanda Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m so mad this was my first finish of the year.

What in the absolute fuck.

This was beautiful and fast paced until it got weird and never recovered.

[Hayley Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know Francesca fans are super fans, and I am an FLB fan but this book didnt do it for me. The biggest struggle for me I struggled over sounds super simple but I really hated the sentence with “ejaculating night skies” im sorry but no. In no way does This description work or make the book more adult. I feel the actual book although not quite as cringe is trying hard to be adult.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody writes intimacy like Francesca Lia Block. Gorgeous novel.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got an early reading edition. It combines Francesca's beautiful writing with a twisting and turning storyline set by the eerie Salton sea.

[Becca Sporky · Rating 3 out of 5]

stories about incest creep me out, but this one had a lot of twists and turns. not my favorite of hers, but not a bad read at all.