The story of a mother on the run from her past, a young soccer star facing a trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and a father on a transformative journey with his son. Each is somehow connected to the next, and as the narrative unfolds, their lives intersect in unimaginable ways.
Exhaustively explor[es] crime and its aftershocks with a deep sense of empathy ... Earns its billing as an epic ... Boyne’s characters aren’t so easily defined ... Boyne...spins a wide web of characters whose connections range from subtle to stunning ... Striking ... Boyne is deft at blurring...lines ... Visceral ... Still, the framing feels forced, and attempts to adhere to it result in moments of clunkiness ... Boyne artfully trickles his narrators’ back stories and links their fates ... Among Boyne’s gifts is a knack for infusing real-life debates into his fictional world.
Richly woven scenes are threaded with dark connective tissue in John Boyne's stunning new collection ... Boyne immediately kidnaps our attention ... A comprehensive 500-page narrative brimming with powerful synergy ... Imagination spills from the page and it is fascinating to witness how each element frames its respective part ... Streamlined prose and perfectly placed flashbacks make the book an immersive literary experience ... Rarely is such elegant writing paired with succinct character crafting ... This is easily one of the best books of the year.
Four interlocking novellas explore the subject of sexual abuse with grit and compassion ... Though each one could stand on its own, the subtle links between them are interesting for readers. Not an easy or comfortable reading experience, the collection raises important questions about complicity and the possibility of recovery from abuse.
