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How to Stop a Heart From Beating
Brilliantly capturing the voice and perspective of a young girl, this is a heart-warming, lively, funny and intriguing novel. The year 1961 is a pivotal one for nine-year-old Solly McKeen. She is a loner in a family of a ‘single’ with no twin of her own, and seen as a bit of an oddity by everyone in her dairy-farming community in South Otago. On learning about the unnamed paupers’ graves in the local cemetery, she promises to people imagining characters, names and causes of death for each. While Solly unravels death and fills in the blanks on the gravestones, she unwittingly uncovers family secrets.
- GenresBook Club
Mass Market Paperback
First published February 2, 2007
17 people want to read
About the author
Jackie Ballantyne
2 books5 followersJackie Ballantyne began writing fiction while she was working in advertising in Australia. Since then she has won awards and commendations for her short fiction and her first novel, 'How to Stop a Heart From Beating', was published by Random House NZ in 2007. 'The Silver Gaucho' was published by The Doby Press in 2014. Jackie currently lives and writes in Port Chalmers – a delightful outpost of Dunedin in South Island, New Zealand.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 7, 2025
Book club read for October 25
July 11, 2009
A delightful read. It was interesting trying to fathom an adult world presented from a child’s perspective. The story did draw me in as I just wanted to take the adults involved and shake them from time to time, they were so infuriating. A wonderful tale highlighting the effects of the lack of communication and the power of family secrets. Ballantyne captured the essence of NZ culture in the early 60’s.
April 13, 2025
Review published in the NZ Herald 7 April 2007
"Unearthing family secrets"
How to Stop a Heart from Beating
Jackie Ballantyne
(Random House $28)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
Nine-year-old Solly McKeen is an inquisitive child, a loner, and a singleton in a family of twins living on a dairy farm in South Otago. At her grandmother’s funeral she discovers some graves that are marked only with numbers: paupers’ graves. She feels sorry for these unknown, forgotten people, so she invents identities for them, creates their circumstances of death (aided by her Auntie Lal’s book, Universal Home Doctor Illustrated), and acts out funerals for them. The title of this novel is taken from her curiosity about death.
In the course of her trips to the cemetery, and a summer holiday to the family’s coastal crib, Solly unwittingly uncovers some deeply buried family secrets. Afforded the freedoms of a rural child of that era, she roams around and interacts with various adults, gleaning all sorts of information, and polishing it up with her imagination.
Jackie Ballantyne skilfully handles the differences in understanding and perception of children and adults, showing how children take things at face value, whereas the adults speak in riddles. It is easy to read between the lines to see what is really going on, and the misunderstandings between adult and child are by turns comic and excruciating.
The author has a sensitive touch and sees things through a nine-year-old’s eyes really well. The result is a poignant portrait of an intelligent, lonely child, who is struggling with bullying from her older brother Joe, and with the mystifying reactions of adults.
The author gradually teases out the personalities of the characters, particularly the adults, who are all affected by their own prejudices and assumptions. There is tension in the triangular relationship between Solly’s parents Helen and Doug and her Auntie Lal (Doug’s unmarried twin). Why does Lal burn things in the incinerator? What is it that Doug says Helen will never understand? Who drowned in the treacherous Spinny Pools so many years ago? And what has all this got to do with Mr McMahon, the cemetery caretaker?
While the author was clearly trying for a naturalistic rendition of Joe’s colloquial speech, I found this overdone, and strange that it was only Joe who spoke this way: useda, shouldna, I bet yor lyin, that orta give er the creeps. What is realistic spoken language seems unnecessarily amplified on the page.
Still, this is a minor quibble in an otherwise thoughtful, well-crafted and assured first novel. How to Stop a Heart from Beating is the best handling of a child’s interpretation of the world that I have read for some time, and keeps us guessing until the very end about the secrets Solly is unravelling.
"Unearthing family secrets"
How to Stop a Heart from Beating
Jackie Ballantyne
(Random House $28)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
Nine-year-old Solly McKeen is an inquisitive child, a loner, and a singleton in a family of twins living on a dairy farm in South Otago. At her grandmother’s funeral she discovers some graves that are marked only with numbers: paupers’ graves. She feels sorry for these unknown, forgotten people, so she invents identities for them, creates their circumstances of death (aided by her Auntie Lal’s book, Universal Home Doctor Illustrated), and acts out funerals for them. The title of this novel is taken from her curiosity about death.
In the course of her trips to the cemetery, and a summer holiday to the family’s coastal crib, Solly unwittingly uncovers some deeply buried family secrets. Afforded the freedoms of a rural child of that era, she roams around and interacts with various adults, gleaning all sorts of information, and polishing it up with her imagination.
Jackie Ballantyne skilfully handles the differences in understanding and perception of children and adults, showing how children take things at face value, whereas the adults speak in riddles. It is easy to read between the lines to see what is really going on, and the misunderstandings between adult and child are by turns comic and excruciating.
The author has a sensitive touch and sees things through a nine-year-old’s eyes really well. The result is a poignant portrait of an intelligent, lonely child, who is struggling with bullying from her older brother Joe, and with the mystifying reactions of adults.
The author gradually teases out the personalities of the characters, particularly the adults, who are all affected by their own prejudices and assumptions. There is tension in the triangular relationship between Solly’s parents Helen and Doug and her Auntie Lal (Doug’s unmarried twin). Why does Lal burn things in the incinerator? What is it that Doug says Helen will never understand? Who drowned in the treacherous Spinny Pools so many years ago? And what has all this got to do with Mr McMahon, the cemetery caretaker?
While the author was clearly trying for a naturalistic rendition of Joe’s colloquial speech, I found this overdone, and strange that it was only Joe who spoke this way: useda, shouldna, I bet yor lyin, that orta give er the creeps. What is realistic spoken language seems unnecessarily amplified on the page.
Still, this is a minor quibble in an otherwise thoughtful, well-crafted and assured first novel. How to Stop a Heart from Beating is the best handling of a child’s interpretation of the world that I have read for some time, and keeps us guessing until the very end about the secrets Solly is unravelling.
April 24, 2020
a charming and enjoyable story of childhood innocence in 1960s rural new zealand, against a backdrop of dark secrets of the adult world. it's nicely written and conveys the young protagonist's perspective very well, and her interpretations of snatches of conversation or the seemingly random actions of adults. the author works almost too hard to keep the reader guessing and when the revelations finally come, it was a bit of a let-down for me. but it was still an engaging read.
November 2, 2018
Loved this book. Well written and a suspenseful storyline. I love reading New Zealand fiction. This book would have been worth it anyway just to read the words "ric-rac" or "pinny". Words from my childhood...that I haven't come across for ages.
January 13, 2017
I really enjoyed this. It kept me guessing at the family secrets as you really only get the 9 year olds side. quite engrossing
April 8, 2015
Bittersweet, quirky, quintessentially New Zealand, I loved this book! The main narrative is from the view point of 9 year old Solly, a lovable character with a rich imagination. The many themes present an honest picture of life in rural New Zealand in the 1960s. Highly recommend!
January 30, 2010
Absolutely delightful! Beautifully told story through the eyes of a young girl...layers on layers.
March 19, 2013
Was recently in New Zealand and wanted to try a local book. This jumped out at me as something a bit quirky. Really enjoyed it. As one other reviewer noted, it has layers upon layers.
September 17, 2012
Loved the perspective of the nine year old girl. Many layers to this read - thoroughly enjoyed!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews