I have just finished The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Set in the Southern States of America it tells the story of a deaf mute man, Singer and the people who come into contact with him.

Published in 1940, the novel anticipates the Civil Rights Movement primarily through the character of Doctor Copeland. McCullers herself refused to send a signed copy of her book to her local library in Georgia on the grounds that black people were not even allowed to enter.

Race issues aside, the book treats of what it means to be totally alone and the methods people employ to connect with the world and others.