In this ambitious novel, Murphy follows the lives of several people who all live in the same building in New York.
The eponymous apartment block houses an affluent artist couple as well as their adopted son Mateo, left orphaned when his mother dies of AIDS. But through their neighbour Hector, a grieving meth addict, Murphy opens his novel up to the world of pain, drug addiction and illness.
The background of the book is the AIDS epidemic and how this once little known illness brought stigma and isolation to its victims. Murphy does a solid job of giving his readers insight into the social implications of the illness — its sufferers are presented as individuals with stories worth telling.
Even the seemingly hopeless drug addicts in Murphy’s story benefit from his human touch. The author doesn’t romanticise but he treads carefully on sensitive ground, always searching for the soul beneath the trauma.
His prose reflects this; it’s gentle and forgiving, at times you can tell he uses his language to cushion the harsher blows of reality. For a book that delves deep into human despair, it is in some ways warming and intensely readable.
With books that I’ve read previously dealing with similar issues, there is often a tendency to make the language as bold and brash as possible but Murphy is more gentle, if not overly cautious. His treatment of his characters is admirable, though we sometimes wonder if he’s not holding back, wary of offending or being too brutal with the truth.
The redemption arcs might be a little too convenient, the ending a pinch too sweet but none of that takes away from how polished and valuable this book is. It tells several vital stories and what he may lack in finesse, Murphy makes up for with pure heart.
