An exquisite and profoundly moving piece of writing, A Little Life is a devastating novel written by American author Hanya Yanagihara. Published in 2015 to critical acclaim, earning shortlists for the Man Booker Prize, as well as the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the International Dublin Literary Award, this novel deals with extremely heavy themes – and that’s not an understatement.

If there’s one thing you can expect from reading this book, it’s a lot of tears.

Even the most hardened readers have avoided the novel, or if they have read it they haven’t necessarily recommended it to fellow book lovers. You may be thinking this sounds a bit dramatic, but we think it’s important to advise caution before reading. We’re certainly not telling you not to read it, but there are some very triggering and traumatic themes, including sexual abuse, self-harm and suicide, so make sure to do some research before purchasing.

The book initially centres around four friends – Malcolm, JB, Jude and Willem – who were college roommates at a Boston university and now live in New York City. We begin to understand the dynamics of their relationships and their career focuses. The four friends are each trying to carve themselves a career in a different industry – JB is an artist, Malcolm is an architect, Willem is an actor, and Jude is a lawyer – with all four achieving levels of success. 

As the reader continues further into the story though, it soon becomes clear that the protagonist is Jude, with Willem playing a crucial role in Jude’s story and JB and Malcolm becoming, sort of, secondary characters. Jude’s story from start to finish is horrifying and tragic – it’s almost incomprehensible to believe that someone could go through so much in one lifetime. Nevertheless, he stays silent, holding his emotions in and using self-harm as a coping mechanism. 

As the reader can imagine at this point, there is no happy ending to this story. Even in moments where there should be happiness and joy – Jude and Willem finally reach a romantic stage in their relationship which they have longed for – the horrific abuse Jude experienced as an adolescent and young adult makes the relationship for both impossible to survive. 

In the end, this is a story that reinforces the importance of addressing trauma, seeking help, and finding inner peace. Jude’s silence and devastating end should act as a catalyst for readers to speak to a trusted family member or friend, or seek help from a professional. Only from resolving trauma is it possible for someone to move forward and, hopefully, find true happiness.

Who is Hanya Yanagihara?

Hanya Yanagihara is an American author, editor and travel writer. As well as writing three novels, Hanya Yanagihara is also editor-in-chief of T magazine, a supplement of the New York Times. 

In a 2018 Guardian interview, Hanya Yanagihara stated that her decision to take the role at the New York Times was met with some bafflement, “a provincial community, more or less snobby as the fashion industry… I’d get these underhanded comments like, ‘Oh, I never knew there were words [in T magazine] worth reading.’”

Other books by Hanya Yanagihara

Aside from A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara has released two other novels – The People in the Trees, her first novel published in 2013, and To Paradise, which was published in 2022 and reached number one on the New York Times best seller list. 

Want to read more?

If you enjoyed reading A Little Life, why not peruse some of the books we’ve reviewed in genres like Drama, Thriller, or wider Fiction.

In the meantime, keep up-to-date on the latest reviews by visiting our latest reviews page and, of course, the Victoria Freudenheim blog for literary news and advice.