The Lonely Hearts Book Club

“In all the years since I’d lost her, I hadn’t triumphed over anything. Or anyone. Not even myself.”

Sloane’s grief over her sister dictates her sense of self in the narrative present. Although Emily died when Sloane was a child, she has yet to reconcile with her loss. Her sister was her best friend. Emily’s absence therefore resounds in Sloane’s adult life. For this reason, Sloane’s sorrow contributes to and augments her loneliness.

“‘An echo with nothing and no one to call her own,’ Arthur announced without preamble. Clearly, this was a subject he’d given some thought to. ‘A friendly facade. An empty smile. A scared little girl without an opinion of your own, latching on to other people’s bigger and brighter lives because you’re not willing to fully live your own.’”

Arthur and Sloane’s connection captures The Dynamics of Unlikely Friendships. Arthur is cruel and callous to Sloane when they first meet at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library. Instead of endearing himself to Sloane, Arthur identifies and ridicules her for her vulnerabilities. At the same time, Arthur’s honesty awakens Sloane and compels her into a new, unexpected friendship.

“Of all the lines Octavia had drawn—and there were quite a few—patron privacy was the one she’d put down in permanent ink. Especially when it came to a man like Arthur McLachlan, who eschewed every offer of help and turned up his nose at every smile. According to her, libraries were the final bastions of the civilized world, the one place left in society where you could spend time but not money. People came here to learn, yes, but they also came to hide. Our job was to let them.”

Sloane’s philosophies about the library contrast with her boss Octavia’s philosophies. While Octavia believes that library patrons want to use the library to disappear, Sloane understands the setting as a point of connection. For this reason, she defies Octavia and pursues connection with Arthur. Her boldness captures her character’s longing for companionship and her distinct understanding of friendship.