His latest, The Absolutist, is a novel of immeasurable sadness, in a league with Graham Greene's The End of the Affair and a no less masterful handling of the first-person narrative voice than Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table.īoyne is very, very good at portraying the destructive power of a painfully kept secret -not to mention the damage done by the self-recriminations (and other condemnations) that are released when that secret is revealed. I became an admirer of John Boyne’s writing with his first novel, The Thief of Time. So is the macho intolerance and fear of anyone who dares question the moral imperative of the terrible war, the alleged cowards and so-called “feather men.” - Neal Thompson

The scenes in the trenches-“beneath the ground like cadavers'-are horrifying. Piling questions atop half-truths, John Boyne ( The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) has crafted a taut and tragic tale of love and war, with a kick-in-the-gut ending. What begins as a slow-building World War I period piece (“Steady on, old chap”) grows deeper, more curious, and uneasy as it progresses-and midway through this sad and beautiful story, you realize you’re in the hands of a quiet master.

'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.Īmazon Best Books of the Month, July 2012: Disowned by his family due to an ill-advised kiss, Tristan Sadler enlists in the English army, hoping to prove himself on the battlefield but instead finding an unlikely lover.

This novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and will stay with them long after they've turned the last page. The Absolutist is a masterful tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain. As Tristan recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will-from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. It is September 1919: twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War.īut the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. John Boyne is very, very good at portraying the destructive power of a painfully kept secret.”Ī masterfully told tale of passion, jealousy, heroism and betrayal set in the gruesome trenches of World War I. “A novel of immeasurable sadness, in a league with Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair.

The absolutist