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.

Food, home, companionship. Three needs that every living creature has, wild or domesticated. And it is through these basic needs that Mary's unconventional relationship with Fox develops. It was wonderful to read snippets through Fox's eyes, he is a fantastic character. The book really does highlight how much people hide: about themselves, about their relationships, about their very nature. The book gives us a glimpse into the complex burrow of Mary's life and her thoughts. Dark, and sometimes shady, we gradually watch her descend into wildness, and from there, struggle to get back to a life in the daylight. Moving, complex and thought provoking.

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!

This book was very original and different and not at all what you think it is, in fact I am still trying to get my head around parts as it was really well written and really makes you think. It is really a novel of self discovery, of pain and intense, complicating emotions but in such a brilliant way it stays with you, for a debut novel I can't wait to read more by this author :)

Slow start but this book ended up worming it's way into my brain and sucking me into the story. Once that happened I couldn't put the book down.

Magical and captivating. I can't stop thinking about the story.

How to be Human the debut novel from Amanda Cocozza skirts the line between magical and maudlin. With all the beautiful, fairy-esque description and it's way of turning things on their heads it reminded me very much of Rebecca Gransden's Anemogram and Peter S Beagle's Summerlong.



Mary is the main character in this novel. Recently separated from her long term boyfriend Mark, she is living alone in their old house with half of their belongings. It's a sad state of affairs and one that many of us can identify with. Mary is lonely, she hates her job and her boss, she wants to do a masters degree but can't find the time or motivation despite having nothing else to occupy her time. She has no friends and her father lives in Spain and her mother in Devon both with their new partners. Her neighbours have their own marital problems and a newborn to contend with. As far as they are concerned Mary is only good for babysitting duty. But then she finds The Fox, or maybe he finds her.


The Fox becomes a part of Mary's life in a way which Goodreads blurb describes as 'unseemly'. But for me it wasn't that at all. It was weird in parts (think Fox at the dinner table eating frittata), but overall it was magical in a way that didn't involve wands.

Mary and The Fox strike up a friendship, as her friends and neighbours set out to exterminate him, she finds a purpose in protecting him. One which she needs more than even she knows. Slowly as her relationship with The Fox grows, so does her own personal strength.

This is not as it first seems about a crazy woman befriending a Fox. It is a novel of self discovery, of pain and intense, complicating emotions which really highlight as the title suggests How to be Human.

I tried so hard to like this book, but it finally defeated me. I found it irritating rather than intriguing and did not engage with the central character or the situation despite the unusual beginning, feeling isolated rather than drawn into the narrative. So disappointing, as I felt it had such promise. Just not my sort of book.

I loved loved loved the language in this - sometimes I would go back two or three times to re-read phrases or passages just for the gorgeous richness of the language, like the fox's ears described as 'gothic chapels', and the passages narrated from the perspective of the fox were incredibly appealing to someone who simply loves words. I'm not sure she said anything hugely new about loneliness, the healing power of animals, the concept of trying to tame wild creatures, but she certainly said it beautifully.
There was a slightly heavy-handed parallel between the behaviour of the protagonist's ex boyfriend and her obsession both with the fox and the neighbour's infant daughter, but the parallel was nevertheless important, and I read with mounting tension from the middle onwards. In fact I expected more tragedy, and had some questions about how long a woman can be left alone despite the concerns of her mother, work etc. Other than those niggles, this was a great read for me.

How To Be Human is a gripping and unusual novel about wildness, loneliness, and obsession. When a fox appears in Mary’s garden she tries to make him leave, but soon she realises they have a burgeoning connection that nobody around her will understand. As she battles against other forces - the neighbours with young children who want the fox problem dealt with and her ex-boyfriend who seems to be lurking around - Mary sees the fox as the constant in her life, but her preoccupation with the fox threatens to drown out everything else.

A plot summary does not do the novel justice. Cocozza’s writing gives the book a tight focus and draws the reader into Mary’s world, painted deftly as a place where she feels uncomfortable until she has the fox to keep her focus. It is a story of a woman befriending a fox, but it is also the story of modern day loneliness, of isolation in a city filled with etiquette and the wildness that Mary finds escape with. The writing is detailed and the action meditated, making the novel a careful exploration of how the fox changes the main character.

On the one hand, How To Be Human is a classic kind of book about a character’s mental state as they become obsessed. On the other hand, it is original and fascinating, highlighting the line between city and wilderness and how sometimes those can become blurred.