There are many ways to describe the titular Oliver Loving – his mother’s favourite son, a beloved older brother to Charlie, and an aspiring poet. He has also been comatose (perhaps even brain-dead) for close to ten years. At seventeen, Oliver was the victim of a school shooting. Now – paralysed and wordless – Oliver lies at the centre of a town’s tragedy. Closer to home, his condition shapes the trajectory of his family’s lives. His parents and younger brother must contend with their grief and also the possibility that a new medical test will give Oliver the chance to communicate and, finally, shed some light on that fateful night.

The novel operates as a sort of murder-mystery, but instead of ‘whodunnit’ we are trying to figure out why a troubled youth turned the gun on a former class before taking his own life. As the novel progresses, more and more details are revealed, especially those connected to Rebekkah Starling, Oliver’s unrequited crush and another survivor of the shooting.

Beyond the mystery at the centre of the novel, Stefan Merrill Block is primarily concerned with exploring the destruction wreaked by grief. The characters in the novel are insufferable and self-destructive. They struggle to connect and empathise with both the mute Oliver and each other. As an exploration of the toxicity of grief, Oliver Loving is confronting; ‘warts and all’ depictions of each character can make it a difficult read at times. I found myself struggling to even like anyone in the novel, but this makes the journey more true-to-life and, ultimately, more rewarding.

Block has a crafted a lyrical, honest, and genuinely surprising novel about tragedy, grief, and families. Although not the lightest of summer reads, you don’t want to miss out on this one.

Tristen Kiri Brudy works as a bookseller at Readings Carlton.