John Boyne confirms his place as one of Ireland’s rising literary stars with this bittersweet collection of stories
The Irish writer John Boyne’s first collection of short stories is mostly a triumph, barring a couple of insubstantial squibs towards the end. Over the course of a dozen stories, he moves deftly between a moneyed couple’s marriage problems while travelling the world in the 1920s, to the everyday existence of a 19-year-old rent boy in present-day Dublin. Some of the stories are sad, others hilariously funny; an account of two warring novelists has comic gusto to spare.
If there is a unifying thread, it is that identity is an ever-mutable thing, and that convictions and beliefs can be overturned far quicker than might seem possible. At its best – as in the justly award-winning story Rest Day – Boyne offers writing of insight and beauty that elevates this collection to impressive heights indeed, and confirms him as one of Ireland’s finest contemporary writers.
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