About the book: 2018 / Cyril Avery is not the real Avery, at least his father never tires of telling him so. And he will never become real. But then who is he? Cyril's mother, just a girl, was expelled from her native Irish village when it became known that she was expecting a child. Cyril is adopted by a wealthy and extremely eccentric couple from Dublin. He grew up in prosperity, but deeply lonely - until he met Julian, eccentric and damn charming. Thus began Cyril’s life-long story, full of successes and disappointments, incredible coincidences and fatal deeds. This will be the path to oneself, to one’s identity, to one’s roots, even if they tried to reject it. John Boyne’s new and most personal novel provides an impressive panorama of life in Ireland from the mid-20th century to the present day, seen through the eyes of an ordinary person. This is a story about how rage, jealousy, envy, intolerance, tormenting a person and an entire country, gradually subside, giving way to peace. A touching novel full of irony and humor about an era that can already be called bygone.