by Pepper Harding
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2016
288 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
In the bestselling tradition of A Man Called Ove and the beloved film Love Actually, a quirky, socially awkward man goes on a quest to find his wife a last-minute Christmas gift and encounters several distractions - including bumping into his ex-girlfriend who was the one who got away.
Henry Quantum has several thoughts going through his head at any given time, so it's no surprise when he forgets something very important - specifically, a Christmas gift for his wife, which he realizes on the morning of December 23. Henry sets off that day in search of the perfect present for her: a bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume. But much like Henry's ever-wandering mind, his quest takes him in different and unexpected directions, including running into the former love of his life, Daisy. His wife, meanwhile, unhappy in her marriage, is hiding a secret of her own. And Daisy, who has made the unsettling choice of leaving her husband to strike out on her own, finds herself questioning whether she and Henry belong together after all.
A sweet, funny, and touching debut from author Pepper Harding shows how the seemingly insignificant events of one single day can change our lives forever - perhaps, if we're lucky, for the better.
"[A] fun, fanciful story that will keep readers guessing until the end." - Publishers Weekly
"Some may find shades of Walter Mitty in Henry Quantum, but this quirky love story is driven by angst, and heroes imagined or real are absent." - Kirkus
This information about The Heart of Henry Quantum was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Pepper Harding is the pen name of a San Francisco writer known for an entirely different kind of literature. Born in far-away New Jersey, educated in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and finally at the University of Chicago, Pepper is a long time resident of the city, with stints in Marin, Berkeley and, currently, Sonoma County. Pepper has two kids, two cars, one spouse, and, some say, multiple personalities.
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