A History of Loneliness
John Boyne
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
4.21
· 24 ratings · 354 pages · Published: 04 Sep 2014
Forty years later, Odran's devotion is caught in revelations that shatter the Irish people's faith in the Catholic Church. He sees his friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed, and grows nervous of venturing out in public for fear of disapproving stares and insults. At one point, he is even arrested when he takes the hand of a young boy and leads him out of a department store looking for the boy's mother.
But when a family event opens wounds from his past, he is forced to confront the demons that have raged within the church, and to recognize his own complicity in their propagation, within both the institution and his own family.
A novel as intimate as it is universal, A History of Loneliness is about the stories we tell ourselves to make peace with our lives. It confirms Boyne as one of the most searching storytellers of his generation.
Tagged as:
- historical 3
- historical fiction 3
- literary fiction 3
- religion 3
- family 3
- crime 2
- psychological 2
- 20th century 2
- christianity 2
- drama 2
- realistic 2
- social commentary 1
- on the move 1
- lgbtq+ 1
- spirituality 1
- action / adventure 1
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- format - reader age
- audiobook 3
- book 1
- adult fiction 1