Vous ne trouverez pas ici le résumé de ce livre, car il est important de le découvrir sans savoir de quoi il parle. On dira simplement qu'il s'agit de l'histoire du jeune Bruno que sa curiosité va mener à une rencontre de l'autre côté d'une étrange barrière. Une de ces barrières qui séparent les hommes et qui ne devraient pas exister.
1946. Trois ans après un événement tragique qui a fait voler leur vie en éclats, une mère et sa fille quittent la Pologne pour Paris. Honte et peur chevillées au corps, elles ne savent pas encore combien il est dur d'échapper au passé. 2022. Presque quatre-vingts années plus tard, à Londres, Gretel Fernsby mène une vie bien éloignée de son enfance traumatique. Lorsqu'elle est dérangée par un couple qui emménage dans son immeuble, elle espère que la gêne ne sera que passagère. Cependant, l'attitude de Henry, leur fils de neuf ans, fait resurgir des souvenirs que Gretel pensait enfouis à jamais. Confrontée au choix cornélien de sauver sa peau ou celle de l'enfant, Gretel replonge dans son histoire, quitte à faire éclore des secrets qu'elle a mis toute une vie à dissimuler.
Un talent de conteur exceptionnel. John Irving.
Le don de John Boyne pour servir la littérature est immense, nul autre que lui ne sait dépeindre aussi bien la nature humaine. The Guardian.
Traduit de l'anglais (Irlande) par Sophie Aslanides.
Les Cleverley sont britanniques, célèbres et riches. Ils n'ont aucune conscience de la fragilité de leurs privilèges... jusqu'au jour où un tweet les fait basculer dans le désastre. George, le père, un animateur de télévision - un trésor national (selon sa propre expression) -, sa femme, Beverley, romancière reconnue (pas autant qu'elle le souhaiterait), et les enfants, Nelson, Elizabeth et Achille : tous cachent sous les apparences des secrets qui sont autant d'inéluctables catastrophes.
Ensemble, ils découvrent les affres de la vie moderne, où les réputations sont détruites en un clin d'oeil, et ils apprennent combien le monde se révèle impitoyable lorsque l'on s'écarte du chemin tout tracé.Avec l'humour unique qui le caractérise, John Boyne dresse un portrait irrésistible de notre époque et de ses travers.Une comédie sur les défauts contemporains et l'addiction aux réseaux sociaux, une fiction pleine de rage et de finesse sur la duplicité humaine. Télérama.C'est hilarant, joyeusement méchant et vengeur. Psychologies magazine.Traduit de l'anglais (Irlande) par Sophie Aslanides.
Cyril n'est pas « un vrai Avery » et il ne le sera jamais - du moins, c'est ce que lui répètent ses parents, Maude et Charles. Mais s'il n'est pas un vrai Avery, qui est-il ? Né d'une fille-mère bannie de la communauté rurale irlandaise où elle a grandi, devenu fils adoptif des Avery, un couple dublinois aisé et excentrique, Cyril se forge une identité au gré d'improbables rencontres et apprend à lutter contre les préjugés d'une société irlandaise où la différence et la liberté de choix sont loin d'être acquises.
Une grande fresque sur l'histoire sociale de l'Irlande transformée en épopée existentielle. Florence Bouchy, Le Monde des livres.John Boyne partage avec le chef-d'oeuvre de John Irving, Le Monde selon Garp, un même souffle épique. Delphine Peras, L'Express.Une éducation sentimentale et politique portée par l'art d'un romancier qui sait sonder les reins et les coeurs. Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, Le Point.Traduit de l'anglais (Irlande) par Sophie Aslanides.
À l'aube de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Pierrot vit à Paris avec ses parents, ignorant tout des nazis. Devenu orphelin, il est envoyé chez sa tante, en Allemagne, dans une maison au sommet d'une montagne. Ce n'est pas une maison ordinaire : le Berghof est la résidence d'Adolf Hitler. Pierrot va découvrir là un autre monde, fascinant et monstrueux.
Odran Yates entre au séminaire de Clonliffe College dans les années 1970, période pendant laquelle les prêtres sont très respectés en Irlande. Le jeune homme pense alors qu'il va consacrer sa vie au bien.
Quarante ans plus tard, la dévotion d'Odran est rattrapée par des révélations qui ébranlent la foi du peuple irlandais. Il voit ses amis jugés, ses collègues emprisonnés, la vie de jeunes paroissiens détruite, et il angoisse à l'idée de s'aventurer dehors par crainte des regards désapprobateurs et des insultes. Mais quand un drame rouvre les blessures de son passé, il va devoir affronter les démons qui ravagent l'Église, et interroger sa propre complicité.
Un ouvrage aussi intime qu'universel qui confirme que John Boyne est l'un des plus grands portraitistes de sa génération.
En 1988, dans un hôtel berlinois, Maurice Swift croise le grand écrivain Erich Ackermann. Une rencontre qui va permettre au jeune homme de devenir l'auteur qu'il a toujours rêvé d'être. Quelques années plus tard, Maurice Swift s'est fait un nom ; il a désormais besoin de nouvelles sources d'inspiration. Peu importe où il trouve ses histoires et à qui elles appartiennent, tant qu'elles contribuent à son succès. Des histoires qui le rendront célèbre, mais qui le conduiront aussi à mentir, emprunter, voler. Ou pire encore... qui sait ?
Autour d'un personnage troublant aux ambitions démesurées, L'Audacieux Monsieur Swift raconte combien il est facile d'avoir le monde à ses pieds si l'on est prêt à sacrifier son âme.Un thriller littéraire de haute volée, mené avec une dextérité étourdissante. Elle.
Une aptitude à embarquer le lecteur, essoufflé mais captivé, jusqu'au point final.
Le Monde des livres.
Un roman aussi vénéneux que magnétique. Le Journal du dimanche. Traduit de l'anglais (Irlande) par Sophie Aslanides.
28 juillet 1914. Le jour où la guerre éclate, le père d'Alfie promet qu'il ne s'engagera pas. Et rompt sa promesse le lendemain. Quatre ans plus tard, Alfie ignore où il se trouve. Est-il en mission secrète comme le prétend sa mère ? Alfie veut retrouver son père.
From internationally bestselling author John Boyne, an inescapably gritty story about one young man whose direction in life takes a vastly different turn than what he expected.
It''s the tabloid sensation of the year: two well-known footballers standing in the dock, charged with sexual assault, a series of vile text messages pointing towards their guilt.
As the trial unfolds, Evan Keogh reflects on the events that have led him to this moment. Since leaving his island home, his life has been a lie on many levels. He''s a talented footballer who wanted to be an artist. A gay man in a sport that rejects diversity. A defendant whose knowledge of what took place on that fateful night threatens more than just his freedom or career.
The jury will deliver a verdict but, before they do, Evan must judge for himself whether the man he has become is the man he wanted to be.
___________ Praise for John Boyne ''A master storyteller'' Daily Express ''One of the best novelists of Ireland'' Sunday Express ''Boyne offers writing of insight and beauty'' Observer ''One of the greatest craftsmen in contemporary literature'' Colum McCann
From the author of the globally bestselling, multi-million-copy classic, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, comes its astonishing and powerful sequel.
''Gripping and well-honed...consummately constructed, humming with tension... a defence of literature''s need to shine a light on the darkest aspects of human nature and it does so with a novelist''s skill, precision and power'' The Guardian ''When is a monster''s child culpable? Guilt and complicity are multifaceted. John Boyne is a maestro of historical fiction. You can''t prepare yourself for the magnitude and emotional impact of this powerful novel.'' John Irving ''An incredible feat of storytelling. All the Broken Places is a stark confrontation of evil, an examination of guilt and deflection, and an old-fashioned page-turner. John treads the finest of narrative lines with skill and grace and proves himself yet again to be among the world''s greatest storytellers. '' Donal Ryan Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same mansion block in London for decades. She leads a comfortable, quiet life, despite her dark and disturbing past. She doesn''t talk about her escape from Germany over seventy years before. She doesn''t talk about the post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn''t talk about her father, the commandant of one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps.
Then, a young family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can''t help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a violent argument between Henry''s mother and his domineering father, one that threatens Gretel''s hard-won, self-contained existence.
Gretel is faced with a chance to expiate her guilt, grief and remorse and act to save a young boy - for the second time in her life. But to do so, she will be forced to reveal her true identity to the world. Will she make a different choice this time, whatever the cost to herself?
All the Broken Places is a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her past and a present in which it is never too late for bravery.
John Boyne is the author of fifteen novels for adults, six for younger readers, and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theatre, ballet, and opera. His many international bestsellers include The Heart''s Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky. He has won four Irish Book Awards, including Author of the Year in 2022, along with a host of other international literary prizes. His novels are published in sixty languages.
To err is maybe to be human but to really foul things up you only need a phone. ''The funniest book I''ve read in ages. Savage but compelling'' Ian Rankin ''Sharp, funny, and beautifully written, but it''s also a brilliant reflection on the landscape we now live in'' Sunday Times bestselling author, Joanna Cannon _____________________________ What a thing of wonder a mobile phone is. Six ounces of metal, glass and plastic, fashioned into a sleek, shiny, precious object. At once, a gateway to other worlds - and a treacherous weapon in the hands of the unwary, the unwitting, the inept. The Cleverley family live a gilded life, little realising how precarious their privilege is, just one tweet away from disaster. George, the patriarch, is a stalwart of television interviewing, a ''national treasure'' (his words), his wife Beverley, a celebrated novelist (although not as celebrated as she would like), and their children, Nelson, Elizabeth, Achilles, various degrees of catastrophe waiting to happen. Together they will go on a journey of discovery through the Hogarthian jungle of the modern living where past presumptions count for nothing and carefully curated reputations can be destroyed in an instant. Along the way they will learn how volatile, how outraged, how unforgiving the world can be when you step from the proscribed path. Powered by John Boyne''s characteristic humour and razor-sharp observation, The Echo Chamber is a satiric helter skelter, a dizzying downward spiral of action and consequence, poised somewhere between farce, absurdity and oblivion. To err is maybe to be human but to really foul things up you only need a phone.
Norwich, septembre 1919. Pour Tristan Sadler, 21 ans, la guerre n'est pas terminée. Deux années dans la boue, dans le sang, ce qu'il a vu, ce qu'il a fait... Mais l'amitié, aussi. Et le souvenir de William, son compagnon de tranchées, tombé au champ du déshonneur.
Aujourd'hui, il vient solder une dette. Rendre à Marian, la soeur du disparu, les lettres qu'elle lui écrivait. Faire la part de la lâcheté et de l'héroïsme, du remords et du destin. Quant au secret qu'il porte en lui comme un éclat d'obus, il lui faudra, pour en faire l'aveu, tout le courage dont il est capable...
The Richard and Judy Bookclub pick that readers are falling in love with.
'It's been a long time since I read anything so compelling and satisfying. At times, incredibly funny, at others, heartrending' - Sarah Winman, author of Tin Man Forced to flee the scandal brewing in her hometown, Catherine Goggin finds herself pregnant and alone, in search of a new life at just sixteen. She knows she has no choice but to believe that the nun she entrusts her child to will find him a better life.
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or so his parents are constantly reminding him. Adopted as a baby, he's never quite felt at home with the family that treats him more as a curious pet than a son. But it is all he has ever known.
And so begins one man's desperate search to find his place in the world. Unspooling and unseeing, Cyril is a misguided, heart-breaking, heartbroken fool. Buffeted by the harsh winds of circumstance towards the one thing that might save him from himself, but when opportunity knocks, will he have the courage, finally, take it?
Winner of the 2018 Glass Bell Award for standout storytelling.
Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas.
Bruno's friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process.
Sam Waver has always idolised his big brother, Jason. Unlike Sam, Jason, seems to have life sorted - he's kind, popular, amazing at football, and girls are falling over themselves to date him. But then one evening Jason calls his family together to tell them that he's been struggling with a secret for a long time. A secret which quickly threatens to tear them all apart. His parents don't want to know and Sam simply doesn't understand. Because what do you do when your brother says he's not your brother at all? That he's actually . . . your sister?
A deliciously dark tale of ambition, seduction and literary theft . . . an ingeniously conceived novel that confirms Boyne as one of the most assured writers of his generation.' Hannah Beckerman, Observer * You've heard the old proverb about ambition, that it's like setting a ladder to the sky. It can lead to a long and painful fall.
If you look hard enough, you will find stories pretty much anywhere. They don't even have to be your own. Or so would-be-novelist Maurice Swift decides early on in his career.
A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated author Erich Ackerman gives Maurice an opportunity. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell; whether or not he should is another matter.
Once Maurice has made his name, he finds himself in need of a fresh idea. He doesn't care where he finds it, as long as it helps him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous, but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse.
This is a novel about ambition.
* 'Maurice Swift, the novelist protagonist of John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky, is a bookish version of Patricia Highsmith's psychopathic antihero Tom Ripley' The Times 'A dark morality tale in the mould of Patricia Highsmith . . . consistently intriguing' Daily Mail
1867. On a dark and chilling night Eliza Caine arrives in Norfolk to take up her position as governess at Gaudlin Hall. As she makes her way across the station platform, a pair of invisible hands push her from behind into the path of an approaching train. She is only saved by the vigilance of a passing doctor.
It is the start of a journey into a world of abandoned children, unexplained occurrences and terrifying experiences which Eliza will have to overcome if she is to survive the secrets that lie within Gaudlin's walls.
1936: London is abuzz with gossip about the affair between Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. But the king is not the only member of the aristocracy with a hard decision to make. Owen Montignac, the handsome and charismatic descendent of a wealthy land-owning family, is anxiously awaiting the reading of his late uncle's will. For Owen has run up huge gambling debts and casino boss Nicholas Delfy has given him a choice: find £50,000 by Christmas - or find yourself six feet under.
So when Owen discovers that he has been cut out of the will in favour of his beautiful cousin Stella, it is time to prove just how cunning he can be... And Owen is nothing if not inventive - even a royal crisis can provide the means for profit. And for murder...
Pickpocket John Jacob Turnstile is on his way to be detained at His Majesty's Pleasure when he is offered a lifeline, what seems like a freedom of sorts - the job of personal valet to a departing naval captain. Little does he realise that it is anything but - and by accepting the devil's bargain he will put his life in perilous danger.
Matthieu Zela has lived his life well. In fact, he's lived several lives well. Because Matthew Zela's life is characterised by one amazing fact: his body stopped ageing before the end of the eighteenth century. Starting in 1758, a young Matthieu flees Paris after witnessing his mother's brutal murder.
