She describes the coastline, the clear air, Dublin landmarks and even the rain with such fondness.
Hayes writes about Ireland in such a way that the memories of her protagonist would feel familiar to anyone. They are slightly smudged reflections of one another.Ĭoupled with this love for the family is the narrator’s love for home: the warm familiarity with which she describes not only her mother’s home, but Ireland in general is comforting, tinged with nostalgia for a childhood sense of belonging. There is love between family: the relationship between the narrator and her mother is full of unconditional devotion, regardless of a struggle to entirely understand each other at times. Whilst the main thread of the narrative is the course of a romantic love, in all its intricacies, the magnificence of Out of Love is in its weaving together of several forms of love. It is these subtleties that make the fact that this is Hayes’ debut novel all the more impressive. A stand-out example of this comes at the end of the second chapter, as the narrator scrambles to save her pot plants much to the chagrin of Theo. The novel is rife with symbolism, demonstrating the skill of an author adept at writing for the screen and utilising visual clues. The magnificence of Out of Love is in its weaving together of several forms of love Hayes’ post-modern approach to the narrative is engrossing, unfolding almost like a mystery as actions in an early chapter are explained by the events of a later one. The central relationship, once tenderly intimate but now faded and imploding, serves as an exploration of what quality of love we as individuals allow for ourselves.
The narration is from someone hopeful despite her hurting, and never reads as jaded or bitter – though one might expect it to, given that the book is essentially about the collapse of a romance. The novel opens at the end of the relationship, each chapter travelling further back through moments of joy and grief, exploring the depths of love frankly but affectionately. However, this book takes a unique perspective by following her story in reverse.
Lauded as an ‘autopsy of a broken heart’, Out of Love could be deemed as maintaining a familiar formula since it follows an unnamed narrator, as she navigates a relationship with her boyfriend, Theo. It is this sentiment that leads readers into this bittersweet account of what it is to love and be loved in modern life. The brief ‘About the Author’ section that precedes the novel asks Hayes why she made the leap from the horror genre that her films are centred in, to romance: she replies that ‘she can think of nothing more horrific than love’. Out of Love is the debut novel of Hazel Hayes, Irish director and screenwriter, who found fame on YouTube through her short films, her interview series ‘Tipsy Talk’, and her sincere video style.
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