A dear friend gifted me this book after I unabashedly asked for a copy as a Christmas present. I first spotted it on Instagram while browsing mindlessly. Something about the title and cover had caught my eye. I did not expect much beyond curiosity, but what I found was a devastating and tender novel that remains at the back of my mind long after the last page.

Any Human Heart is an intimate portrait of a life through the journals of fictional character Logan Mountstuart over the course of many major and real historical events. Blending non-fiction elements into a novel can disrupt a reader’s immersion in the invented world and I thought Boyd did this quite remarkably as I never once felt like there was a blur between imagination and reality.

While intertwining Logan’s life with historical events is nothing short of masterful, what truly makes this novel exceptional is the undramatic flow of existence he leads in the midst of betrayal, failure, grief, and love until his last breath. I would have expected his famous and infamous encounters with literary giants like Hemingway or surviving through World War II to convey a story of heroism or greatness. But they do not.

What the book does convey is Logan’s ability to be human across decades despite all the selfishness, pettiness, and the occasional kindness. For him to journey through life with the lens of a youthful arrogance, giving way to bitterness, then resignation, and finally, a kind of clear-eyed humility. Therein lies the power of the novel — by making us believe we have stumbled upon the private journals of a man who truly lived and loved, and in following his life, we might find ourselves mourning and cherishing our own.

Would I recommend Any Human Heart? I would, especially for readers who enjoy character-driven fiction with a strong historical backdrop. It is a slow read (as all books with elements of history are), but one that rewards your patience with emotional depth and a haunting sense of realism.