The Language of Love and Loss

By: Bart Yates

Narrated by: Curtis Michael Holland

Home, for Noah York, is Oakland, New Hampshire, the sleepy little town where Noah's mother, Virginia, had a psychotic breakdown and Noah got beaten to a pulp as a teenager. Then there were the good times—and Noah's not sure which ones are more painful to recall.

Now thirty-seven and eking out a living as an artist in Providence, Rhode Island, Noah looks much the same—and swears just as colorfully—as he did in high school. Virginia has become a wildly successful poet who made him the subject of her most famous poem, "The Lost Soul," a label Noah will never live down. And J.D., the one who got away—because Noah stupidly drove him away—is in a loving marriage with a successful, attractive man whom Noah despises wholeheartedly. Is it any surprise that Noah wishes he could ignore his mother's summons to come visit?

But Virginia has shattering news to deliver, and a request he can't refuse. Soon, Noah will track down the sister and extended family he never knew existed, try to keep his kleptomaniac cousin out of jail, feud with a belligerent neighbor, confront J.D.'s jealous husband—and face J.D. himself, the ache from Noah's past that never fades . . . All the while, contending with his brilliant, unpredictable mother.

©2023 Bart Yates (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Love it but Noah is so toxic

I love the book. The characters are richly drawn but the character of Noah is a toxic mess.

An unlikable character

Noah isn’t likable. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for a main character, but I really thought the sarcasm and snarky dialogue were overdone. Also I found the prose relied heavily on similes, some good, but mostly not so. The conversations Noah had with J. D. were downright unbelievable—no one can communicate this way. It was far too cutesy and trying too hard. This could have been accentuated by the annoying narrator. He made Noah even more unsympathetic, in my opinion.

I remember disliking Mr. Yates’ other books, but thought I would give him another chance. This was the last one for me.