My Goodreads and Amazon review of The Boys: A Novel by Katie Hafner (Rating 5) – Recovery and Reentry. The Boys by Katie Hafner is a sly yet sympathetic journey into how we cope with the dual traumas of loss and isolation. Ethan Fawcett, the protagonist, is aided by the love of two good women. After his parents are killed in a tragic accident, Ethan is raised by lukewarm grandparents and grows up a socially awkward tech wizard. With traits that could easily be dismissed as “on the spectrum,” he is instead rendered by Hafner as endearing. His coworker Barb, a psychologist who studies loneliness, falls in love with his quirkiness too. She draws the introverted Ethan into a richer life, captured in their idyllic honeymoon bicycle trip through Italy, run by Hill and Dale, a service-oriented company. Back home, Barb wants to expand their family. Ethan is torn between his fear of being an inadequate parent and his desire to please her, but agrees to a “trial run” when she brings home Tommy and Sam, orphaned Russian twins. In a reversal, Ethan becomes the more nurturing parent. COVID further enables him to isolate with the boys, supervising their diet, hygiene, home schooling, and media consumption. His protectiveness is so all-consuming and restrictive that Barb feels she has no choice but to leave. Devastated, but doubling down on his devotion to the boys, Ethan decides to recapture the elation of the Italy trip by repeating it with them. He is taken underwing by his tour guide, Izzy, another woman who values his strangeness. The novel opens soon after their return, with Ethan receiving a letter from the head of Hill and Dale, politely asking him to never use their services again. What happened? And what does it mean for Ethan and his family? The surprise Hafner delivers could have been contrived but is instead deftly produced and believable. As a writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admire her talent for humanizing odd characters and persuading readers to suspend their disbelief. A contemporary comment on isolation, the novel asks timeless questions about whether we can heal from trauma and redeem ourselves, not through penitence, but through re-immersion in joy. The Boys restores hope for those we care for, those who care for us, and ultimately, for ourselves.
