Beneath the Earth
  • Published: 28 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781784160999
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $24.99

Beneath the Earth

Formats & editions
EBook
27 Aug 2015
Paperback
28 Apr 2021
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In this, his first short story collection, John Boyne examines the human condition in some of his finest writing to date.

In this collection of twelve dark, unerring and surprising short stories, John Boyne explores the extremities of the human condition in all its brilliance and brutality. The secrets we keep and the ways in which they shape us, the impossibility of shared loss, the lengths we will go to in order to protect our families and the distance we will run to protect ourselves.


Drawing on a host of enthralling characters – a farmer, a cuckold and a teenager exploring his sexuality; good parents, bad parents, writers and soldiers; a student, a rent boy and a hitman – Boyne examines the hopeful and the damaged without prejudice or judgement.


This, his first collection of short stories, is some of John Boyne’s finest writing to date. It includes ‘Rest Day’ which won the 2015 Writing.ie Short Story of the Year award in Ireland.
  • Published: 28 April 2021
  • ISBN: 9781784160999
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 272
  • RRP: $24.99
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About the author

John Boyne

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, six for younger readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning book The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John’s other novels, notably The Absolutist and A History of Loneliness, have been widely praised and are international bestsellers. Most recently, The Heart's Invisible Furies was a Richard & Judy Bookclub word-of-mouth bestseller, and A Ladder to the Sky was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award in association with Listowel Writers’ Week.

His novels are published in over fifty languages.

portrait photo of John Boyne

Also by John Boyne

The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Fire
Earth
Water
All The Broken Places
The Echo Chamber
See all

Praise for Beneath the Earth

The best of the best . . . These revealing stories, unfolding like intimate confessions, will twist your heart.

Daily Mail

[Beneath the Earth] tracks the light and dark of Ireland’s past and present . . . Boyne is particularly strong on dramatising child and teen sensibilities but here we see how the badness of adults spills over and infects these damaged children.

Independent

Boyne has achieved a careful authenticity . . . Beneath the Earth is a satisfying and polished set of short stories with definite longevity and immense global appeal.

Irish Independent

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

Observer
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