Bestselling author John Boyne's A History of Loneliness tells 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 grows nervous 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 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 Boyne as one of the most searching storytellers of his generation.
- New eBook additions
- Available now
- Most popular
- Popular "Always Available" eBooks - No Wait!
- Homeschooling Resources
- Classics You've Always Meant to Read
- Colorado Authors Spotlight
- Business Essentials
- Read It Before You See It
- Spanish-Language Books
- Books in German
- See all
- New audiobook additions
- Available now
- Always Available FICTION Audiobooks
- Always Available NONFICTION Audiobooks
- Audiobooks Under 3 Hours Long
- Most Popular Audio Between 3 and 5 Hours Long
- Most Popular Audio Between 5 and 10 Hours Long
- Radio Dramatizations/Adaptations
- Audiobooks for the Whole Family
- Must-Listen Nonfiction
- Read by a Celeb
- Great Narrators
- Colorado Authors Spotlight
- See all
- 100 Most Popular Magazines!
- Cooking & Food
- Home & Garden
- Fashion
- News & Politics
- Travel & Outdoor
- Celebrity
- Sports
- Business & Finance
- Kids & Teens
- Science
- Art & Architecture
- See all