A History of Loneliness

by John Boyne Narrated by Gerard Doyle

Overview

The riveting narrative of an honorable Irish priest who finds the church collapsing around him at a pivotal moment in its history.

Propelled into the priesthood by a family tragedy, Odran Yates is full of hope and ambition. When he arrives at Clonliffe Seminary in the 1970s, it is a time in Ireland when priests are highly respected, and Odran believes that he is pledging his life to “the good.”

Forty years later, Odran's devotion is caught in revelations that shatter the Irish people's faith in the Catholic Church. He sees his friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed, and he grows wary of venturing out in public for fear of disapproving stares and insults. At one point, he is even arrested when he takes the hand of a young boy and leads him out of a department store while looking for the boy's mother.

But when a family event opens wounds from his past, he is forced to confront the demons that have raged within the church and to recognize his own complicity in their propagation, within both the institution and his own family.

A novel as intimate as it is universal, A History of Loneliness is about the stories we tell ourselves to make peace with our lives. It confirms John Boyne as one of the most searching storytellers of his generation.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

02/23/2015
Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) explores the tumultuous history of the priesthood in the Irish church. Father Odran Yates narrates from when his mother told him he ought to take vows through the present day. For many years, Odran has taught and cared for the library at Terenure College in Dublin, going about his days in near ignorance of church politics. He is without ambition and often exasperatingly naïve. He insists that he enjoys his life, despite one painfully botched and shameful romantic interest. When string of priests are convicted of sexually harassing young boys in their congregations, Odran pushes away the news for as long as he can, despite increasingly aggressive and pointed public response. Then he tries to return a boy that's been separated from his mother in a department store, and the Garda detain him, accusing Odran of attempting to kidnap the child. When an old roommate resurfaces, Odran must face his own denial and the pain it's caused. The book sags during conversations with formulaically villainous clergymen but is otherwise a quietly enlightening meditation on how the Irish Catholic church has let down its congregations. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

The complex architecture of this haunting novel is seamlessly constructed. The path to the priesthood that Odran Yates follows is both understandable and sympathetic. And Father Yates is a good man; he is innocent of the false accusations made against him (he's not a pedophile). John Boyne has created a character who holds himself accountable for the sins of others. No writer today handles guilt with as much depth and sadness. As Father Yates takes himself to task for all he didn't do, nothing less than the sexual duplicity and cover-ups of the Catholic Church are indicted. This is John Boyne's most important novel and of vital importance to Irish history; it is also a gripping story, one no reader can put down until its devastating end.” —John Irving

“John Boyne brings a completely fresh eye to the most important stories. He is one of the great craftsmen in contemporary literature.” —Colum McCann

“John Boyne has plunged into the dark and troubled history of the Catholic Church in our time and come up with a novel to treasure. Unflinching, moving, and true.” —John Banville, author of Ancient Light

“An urgently compelling story of power, corruption, lies, self-deceits, and the damage that happens when we turn our eyes from wrong. Anyone who wants to know what happened in the Irish Catholic Church needs to read this brave, righteously angry, and stunning book. Some of us have long wondered what it would be like if a master storyteller turned his powers to this theme. Now we know.” —Joseph O'Connor, author of Star of the Sea

“Boyne's plotting and pacing are first-rate, and his mastery of the slow-boil is evident.” —The Daily Beast

“With this exceptional piece of fiction, Boyne has explored a subject with insight and sensitivity which most would shy away from. It's a brave, angry and powerful novel which sheds new light on a dark chapter in Ireland's history.” —The Daily Mail UK

Library Journal - Audio

★ 05/15/2015
In Boyne's (Boy in the Striped Pajamas) scathing novel about Ireland and the Catholic priesthood, Father Odran Yates tells his story from his youth to the modern era, moving back and forth in time as the truth about pedophilia and the priesthood emerges. The listener follows Father Yates through slices of his life, spending time at seminary, the Vatican, with his family and friends, and eventually at the trial of one of those friends. In all these places tragedy touches his life, often connected to both his family and the church. Father Yates himself seems an ideal man for his job: he is thoughtful, forgiving, humble, asexual, and unworldly. All of these qualities make his condemnation of the church hierarchy and himself all the more damning. Gerard Doyle performs wonderfully, using his native experience of Irish accents to great and mellifluous effect. VERDICT This is a difficult book but a rewarding one. Highly recommended for listeners of literary fiction who are willing to embrace an iconoclastic work. ["This novel reads like a modern existential fable. Questions it raises will remain with readers long after they put it down": LJ 1/15 review of the Farrar hc.]—Tristan M. Boyd, Austin, TX

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172560453
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	02/03/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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