Mary is left alone in the fringes of suburbia to struggle with her new life as a single woman recently coming out of a broken engagement with an abusive partner. Abused and mentally unstable, Mary is trying to understand where she fits in society. An expected promotion that never arrives and the illusion of a happy family life that she thinks her next-door neighbours are experiencing, makes Mary susceptible to a mental breakdown. Her life is about to change when one day she encounters a fox in her garden.

Paula Cocozza, the author, in this extraordinary debut manages to create a very unique novel that really manages to stand out.

I admit that while reading it I had mixed feelings as I would not classify this as an easy-to-read book. But I was intrigued nonetheless and motivated to keep reading as the premise was very promising. The theme is quite challenging and the metaphors the author chooses to use, the parallels she is drawing although quite clear at points, are still disturbing and pushing the reader to the limits. But this is where the novel seems to show its brilliance. It's not just Mary that is being pushed to the edges of her sanity and out in the wilderness but also the reader who experiences a similar reading experience.

If you’ve ever wondered about the patterns of human relationships, the way couples move towards children and the defined domesticity of houses, gardens, socialising with friends and alcohol. If you’ve ever wondered what wildness still remains in our increasingly urban society, this might be a book for you.

How to Be Human explores the boundaries between the human, the domestic and the civilised and the animal, the untamed and the wild all within one area of East London where a cluster of houses surround a small area of wasteland some consider woodland.

In among the dumped wardrobes and mattresses grown over with blackberry bushes, surrounded by ivy-covered trees, on a small patch of land that sits between the fenced-in human gardens, lives a fox. This is his territory. He moves between the gardens and houses, the woodland, under the fences, leaving his mark, scenting what belongs to him.

When he starts to visit Mary, a woman not long out of a failed and controlling relationship, something shifts for her. The confined propriety of London living begins to fray alongside what others in her street consider to be her sanity.

She begins a relationship with the fox.

Unable ever to name him, the novel stumbles over all the muddied territory of human animalness, exposing our attempts at civilisation for the games they are.

What does it really mean to be human? What does it really mean to breathe, to live in our senses, to explore the world through the edges of our skin? How to Be Human tries to ask those questions. It has us, like Mary, scrabbling on our knees through the nettles.

I really enjoyed the novel, though one could argue it is another way of asking how we can possibly hope to stand outside of instinct, beyond the genetic pressure to procreate, and whether we should even try. For all the solitude of city living we all desire to generate something, to feel some thrum of creativity running inside us. Why? And is it ever possible to really let another being, human or animal, in? Perhaps we are always alone…

How to Be Human is a fun novel with many complex questions inside. Alongside the petty world of the human neighbourhood are the deeper questions of human existence. For this reason, How to Be Human is a delight to read.

I think part of me wanted something sharper, something angrier at its core, a fuller wider exploration of the fox and how he thinks, but this might have made it a different novel. As it is, How to Be Human is intriguing and surprising in all the predictable ways we try to imagine we don’t conform to. I will look forward to Paula Cocozza’s next novel and would be surprised if this book doesn’t find it’s way onto a few awards lists.

In How to Be Human we confront our vulnerable humanity, while tracing Mary's journey into a season of becoming distanced from others, unhinged by the effects of mental illness. Newly single, unhappy and unfulfilled in her job, she soon realises her best and closest soul companion is a fox, one she is initially nervous of when he visits her garden.

Pretty soon, boundaries shift, acceptance of a new 'normal' takes place and life as she knew it before breaks down. In personalising her fox friend (who takes on various names throughout), Mary reveals her need of a steady, relatively undemanding relationship, comfort and solace, which the usual channels have failed to offer her.

We are drawn not only into an intriguing story but also into consideration of just what makes us human. As Mary shares more of her life and time with the fox, she begins to anthropomorphise him and become more humanly bizarre in how she conducts herself. Who is being truly human here? Is it better to allow a little wildness and eccentricity into our lives in order to become a more rounded person, or will that only succeed in distancing us from others? Let the reader judge for themselves as they lose themselves in this fascinating book.

Honestly, I don’t really know how I feel about this book. I really wanted to like it, and in some ways, I did, but in other ways it was a bit of a disappointment.
How to be Human is the story of Mary and her unusual relationship with a fox. The story begins with Mary discovering her neighbour’s infant girl on her doorstep. It is unclear whether Mary herself has taken her, whether the baby’s mother has abandoned her, or whether she has been left their as a gift from the fox.
Initially Mary is scared by the fox but increasingly she comes to see that the fox could be a friend, someone she can talk to about her obsessive ex and her increasingly unfriendly neighbours. As her neighbours step up their efforts to hunt the fox the reader will begin to wonder who is attempting to save who?
The beginning, when you looked back from the middle, had come four weeks earlier, one miserable Tuesday in June. Mary has just arrived home from work when she sees him sat there in the middle of her garden. She muses that he could hardly have chosen a more ‘ostentatious’ spot for a nap but she knows he isn’t really sleeping as his ears are spiked.
Mary feels as though he has chosen her out of everyone in the neighbourhood and he must have a reason for having come to see her. It is this belief that grows into the seed of friendship between them. In a single visit he had acquired an air of permeance as if he had been here yesterday and would be here again tomorrow.
Overtime Mary increasingly begins to humanize the fox and eventually begins to bring the fox into her home. This part of it was difficult for me to read as I have watched programmes on people who try to domesticate foxes and the negative impact it can have on a creature who is meant to be wild.
When she sees the fox she imagines what her ex, Mark, would have done in her place and she knows he would have thrown stones at it until it fled. She chooses not to do this.
We learn that the house she lives in is one she once shared with Mark and that when they looked at it together he had squeezed her waist in a way that she thought made it seem like she needed to lose weight (she didn’t and that was exactly what he was trying to suggest.) This is the first hint we get that everything wasn’t perfect in her relationship with Mark.
The bits I enjoyed most in the book were the bits written from the perspective of the fox as this gave the reader insight into what the fox was really thinking and what Mary was simply projecting onto him.
“This whole plot was built on scent. Every day the edges needed rebuilding. Patching over. He had to track and re-track. Once the humans stayed in their pens. Now they roamed the woods.
Males and females.
Messing with his scent map. Making him work harder just to own this place. But what a place!
This place was the best of both. Wilderness in the middle. Human food dens around the edge.”
Increasingly throughout the book Mary comes to see the fox as a confidant, someone she can talk to about Mark and the things he left behind her head. She no longer has any real friends as Mark slowly isolated her from them during the time they were together and slowly made it so that she controlled everything she did and everything she said.
She feels that the fox understands her better than anyone else and she can’t help herself from bringing him more and more into her life and as she does she feels herself start to undergo a change.
Even though I was disappointed by this book I don’t regret reading it.

A rather unusual book, tantalising in its use of the senses especially that of smell. From the musky odour of the fox to smoky barbecues, rose smelling candles & even men's cologne, my sense of smell was captivated by the descriptions.

A tale of what it is to "be" human with all that that entails. A tale of the consequences of forcing human traits onto a wild animal. But also a tale of loss, finding oneself and strength. I enjoyed my journey, thank you.

Spellbinding and unusual, Mary's story is one of loneliness, isolation and possible madness. Living alone in the house she once shared with her ex-partner, financially tied to her unfulfilling administrative job, she values the urban woodland wilderness caught between roads that her garden backs onto. The part its wildlife plays in her life is something she values, but her neighbours don't seem to feel the same way. It seems that there is more than one way to be human, in the end - and no (wo)man is an island. Beautifully written, this is a lovely book.

The premise of How to be Human is very simple; a lonely woman befriends a wild fox, but it leads into a complicated look at one woman's mental state and also the way society interacts with each other and the wildlife that is at its doors.

Sometimes it gets a little too complicated and the story gets swamped in its own wonderings and musings. It was a bit of a dredge to read at points.

However, the idea is a good one, and it highlights the wildness that lies dormant in everyone.

In a way, How to be Human is a character study of one woman and how she is coping with loneliness and stress, and also how she becomes deluded; believing herself and the fox to be in a relationship. Cocozza does this quite well and, though there are a lot of mysteries around Mary, she is believable and explored well.

I also liked that Cocozza provided the fox's thoughts as well as Mary's. They're written in a jumpy way, using made up words and focusing on smells, domains and food. It broke up the focus on Mary as well, which could become quite heavy at times.

"The air poked damp and saline. Come fresh to stalk around the human Female with sly feet and rippety eyes. Spruckling toadsome."

There are lots of good things about the book but it mainly made me uncomfortable, which is presumably what the author is trying to do. I always had the feeling that something very bad was going to happen. It's seeped with paranoia and loneliness, like Mary's mind, but it didn't always make me want to keep reading.

I was also a bit frustrated that several aspects of the plot were left unanswered; is the boyfriend a stalker? How does the baby end up on the step? There are more that I can't mention but can't because of spoilers. Mystery is good in most cases but in some parts of the book it felt like the author was going out of her way to be mysterious for the sake of it.

How to be Human is unique and interesting, but it didn't grip me.

Oh, and I know it shouldn't matter but I really like the cover. I think that's what drew my attention to the book in the first place.

My Rating: 3/5

I received a digital copy of How to be Human via NetGalley in return for an honest review. My thanks to the publisher and author.

An extremely interesting read that draws you in from the very first page. Highly recommended.

Mary is in her early thirties, is recently single and lives in a small house ijn London. By day she works at a local university as a HR Manager, at home she is slowly falling apart.
Not sure where her life is heading, Mary notices a fox has started to visit her and leave her gifts. Mesmerised by his presence and his ability to calm and soother her, Mary begins the slow process of befriending him. Mary's neighbours' however are unappreciative of her friend and seek to employ a fox catcher to eliminate him. As work becomes more difficult, as she listens and watches her neighbours marriage unfold and deals with the reappearance of her abusive, controlling ex fiancee, Mary's mental state slowly spirals out of control. The fox becomes ever more present in her life to the point of obsession, and becomes her only true friend and companion.
It is as Mary's mental health slowly deteriorates that you begin to question if the fox actually really does exist or is it merely symptomatic of her breakdown. It appears to strip Mary of her ability to exist in a normal world and in a way her humanity, and her apparent loneliness and isolation in a crazy hustle and bustle of London.
It sounds like a depressing novel and in a way it is but it is so skillfully written, that you cannot help but be drawn in and indeed enthralled by Mary and her fox.
It is not a novel that will be liked by everyone as the pacing is slow and the writing descriptive to capture the true essence of Mary's decline.
For a debut novel is is hugely accomplished.
Thank you Netgalley and Hutchinson for the opportunity to read and review.

If I’d wondered at first that a story about a woman’s relationship with a fox visiting her garden could hold my attention for 300 pages, I needn’t have worried - it was mesmerising. After the initial delight and wonder at the fox’s arrival in her life, there is an steadily building atmosphere of menace and foreboding, for the safety of the fox and for Mary too in her tentative freedom from an overbearing former partner. Her descent into paranoia and eventual sense of release is cleverly done.

The writing is fresh and original. I loved the portrayal of the fox’s thought processes - some entertaining vocabulary in the style of Jabberwocky. ‘Come fresh to stalk around the human Female with sly feet and rippety eyes. Spruckling toadsome.’

With thanks to Random House/Cornerstone via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this unusual and engaging story, I’d recommend it highly.

This is a book with an interesting premise that I just couldn't get into. It started positively - a very intriguing mystery that I was waiting to unfold - but in the moments leading up to it, the story seemed to move from what was promised (a book about obsession and mental illness and coping) into something that was more inappropriate relationships with an animal and child kidnapping. When it hit this point, it became something that I couldn't relate to or understand, even as someone with a mental illness, and it became really difficult for me to continue despite the fact I found this book really well written with a wonderful writer's voice.
I'd be interested to see what this author comes up with in the future but this book just isn't for me.

Is our humanity validated by how others see us?

Mary feels disenfranchised; her boyfriend dumped her at New Year because she couldn't commit to marriage and a baby; she was passed over for a promotion at work; her house and garden are a mess, and she has lost all motivation to do anything about it. Her neighbours, the post-natally depressed Michelle and long-suffering Eric, are anxious for her to clear up her garden as it harbours the foxes which they so despise. Then, when they need a baby sitter she discovers that she was second choice after Mark, her ex! A further lack of respect towards her.

It is summer, and one day she comes home to find a large and very beautiful dog fox lying on her grass. He seems not to fear her; his ears are sharply spiked and ready to act if need be.
To Mary he seems to be trying to communicate something especially to her, and she is flattered that he has chosen her to commune with. For the first time in months she finds that she can feel something, even if initially it is aggravation at the sheer nerve of him. Then he winks at her!

What follows is an enigma; Mary and the fox (she tries giving him names but nothing seems to stick) develop a mutual understanding. Mary is convinced that he has chosen her, especially when he starts to leave 'presents' on her doorstep. A single gardening glove, a rag doll, a pair of boxer shorts – yeuch! Time passes until they comfortably lie side by side on a rug in the garden, and Mary starts to talk to him and to respect him as an equal. She marvels at his majesty, confidence and yet he is respectful, considerate of her feelings and seems to want to share her life.

At the same time, Mary is asked to babysit for George and Flora next door. She knows little or nothing about children or babies, but how difficult can it be? To her surprise when she picks up baby Flora, she feels an opening up inside herself, and is drawn to the newness and softness of the child. This change in her very being will be important in what is to come.

This is a strange, yet wonderful book, where the reader is unsure what is real and what is illusion, or even delusion. We are introduced to the world as experienced by the fox itself, and whilst Mary seems to lose her connection with reality it is the fox who provides a purposeful dialogue.

Is Mary teaching him what it is to be human, or is the fox enabling her to sense her own humanity and to take control of her life again?

A very original first novel from an accomplished and imaginative writer. I enjoyed it, even whilst sometimes wondering what it was all about!

Pashtpaws

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

An unusual book, I don't remember reading anything quite like this. I can't help thinking it's all to do with mental illness. Was Mary losing her mind? The story became quite complicated and I found my interest waning. Although How to Be Human is still on my mind.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

This is a wonderful book about the human experience. The writing is lyrical and smart; the narrative fluid. I was swept through and along to the end in no time at all. Will definitely recommend.

I was kindly sent this copy in exchange for my independent honest opinion. What I liked about this book is how it allows the reader to make their own interpretations about the purpose of ' The Fox'
There are elements of Magical realism which gives the everyday plot an exciting twist.
Mary lives alone following the breakdown of her relationship. It is soon apparent that she is not coping too well with this change of status. Her work and home life are suffering, I am of the opinion that she is starting to suffer mental ill health. In her lonely state, she befriends a fox who wanders into the house gardens edging the woods, other neighbours are upset by this but Mary welcomes the fox and imagines she is having a relationship with it. I also get the impression, that whilst in this state of mind, it appears that everyone else,especially her neighbours have the perfect happy lives!!!! This is intact not the case!
Perhaps the fox represents Mary's loneliness and increasing health decline. Certainly as the story develops she becomes more dependent on it, until the situation becomes most extreme.
This is an unusual thought provoking story. It is well written and the characters are believable,although at times I became annoyed with Mary's self obsession. Often though from my experience if someone is depressed, then they cannot help this.
It is a slow burner, so for those who prefer fast paced mysteries with plenty of action, then perhaps this isn't for you. Well worth reading in my opinion.

This book is different from anything I have read before. It is about Mary and what she perceives to be a friendship with a fox. She appears mentally unstable in parts of the book but the experience makes her stronger and brings her the proper closure on her relationship that she needed. This book will make you think about relationships and life. Definitely worth reading.

This is a really hard book to review without giving the plot away, which is how I like to write up the books I read.

It is about Mary, who lives alone, in a house she bought -out from her ex-boyfriend. Her neighbours Michelle and Eric are friendly enough, with their two kids; George and Flora, the babe-in-arms.

Life is not currently a pleasant place for Mary, I mentioned she had split up with her boyfriend! She is still single and her neighbours invite her to their barbecue. Are they matchmaking?

Talk turns to the local fox population, Michelle has a thing about them and seems to want to get an exterminator in, Mary isn't so sure.

Mary has a problem of saying the wrong thing and then regretting what she has said. It's a confidence thing. Maybe with time she will grew stronger, particularly now she has a new companion and protector. At least he will help keep her ex, who has just reappeared unexpectedly in the neighbourhood, at bay.

Mary confused me and yet I totally understood her. I empathised with her so much in many ways and then found myself thinking, why?

How do I score this book? I enjoyed it, but by the same token I found it odd. This is one you will have to decide on for yourself as to whether it is for you. I can't compare it to anything I've read to give you any clues.

I find it difficult to be constructive about this book. Well enough written, the author's talent in that direction could be put to better use. The story is silly saying more about the lead character's need for urgent psychiatric attention than anything else.

Mary is struggling. She has recently ended her engagement, she's been given a formal warning at work and she's avoiding her neighbours. But this is not the story you're expecting.
The first chapter is exquisite and unsettling as Mary comes face-to-face with an urban fox and finds a baby on her doorstep. The first chapter is one of the most creepy-beautiful openings I’ve ever read, setting up an atmosphere of brooding unease and the suspicion that Mary's mind is teetering.

From there Cocozza takes us back to when foxes, and this fox in particular, first entered Mary's life, starting as a typical urban pest and slowly becoming the centre of all her thoughts and affections. The tentative interactions between human and wildlife are beutifully done, capturing the fear and curiosity of both side. We even see inside the mind of the fox and Cocozza's playful use of language helps to capture the alien nature of his thought processes. As they seek one another out there is the creeping realisation that just as Mary’s life is crumbling her mind is beginning to teeter also as she attempts to correct all the mistakes in her other relationships through her growing obsession with the fox.

It's an interesting premise that starts so well with a mesmerizing use of language that is startlingly visual and atmospheric, times when I could vividly imagine it as a film with quiet menace. Mary's fears of her old toxic, manipulative relationship and her observations of her neighbours' struggle with family life is effectively contrasted with the simplicity and concreteness of her relationship with a wild thing. Unfortunately it begins to lose steam as more characters and events come into focus, drifting too far into unsettling but typical suburban drama. The most interesting aspects and original aspects of the writing begin to fade and the subtlety of the atmosphere disappear as "events" take centre-stage and my ability to suspend disbelief was stretched to its limit. I look forward to Cocozza's future work but her strength is in her use of words and in How To Be Human the increasing intensity of the plot overpowered the writing.

This sounded really interesting - apologies, it just didn't grip me!