Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The Irish writer's 10th novel for adults examines one man's life over the course of 70 years to reveal the personal and societal toll of Ireland's repression of homosexuality.It's 1945, and a philandering Catholic priest is throwing 16-year-old Catherine Goggin out of church and the village for being unwed and pregnant as her family looks on silently. With quick strokes and bitter humor, Boyne's (A History of Loneliness, 2015, etc.) opening scene encapsulates the Irish church's hypocrisy and utter control of a meek flock. Having taken on the church's sexual abuse of children in his previous novel, Boyne continues his crusading ways with the quiet keening of this painful, affecting novel. Catherine will travel to Dublin and give birth after saving the life of a gay youth whose partner is beaten to death by his own father. Her son, Cyril, the book's first-person narrator, is adopted in infancy by a wealthy Dublin couple. He is smitten at 7 with a boy his age who visits the house, and even more so at 14, when they are roommates in school, but he mutes his passion for the handsome, charismatic Julian as they become close friends. As Boyne captures Cyril every seven years, his 20s feature a double life, secret promiscuity and public straightness. Then, he briefly marries (1973), flees Ireland, finds love in Amsterdam (1980), and works with AIDs patients in New York (1987). There, he suffers two wrenching losseswhich also, happily, mark the end of Cyril's tendency to forget he's a witty, ironic conversationalist and veer close to maudlin self-pity. His later years in Ireland seem to bring the promise of reconciliation on several fronts, but there is still penance and pain until the book's last word. A dark novel marred by occasional melodrama but lightened by often hilarious dialogue. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Boyne, author of the internationally best-selling children's book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006), here turns to adult fiction to deliver the epic story of Cyril Avery, who after being born out of wedlock in Dublin in 1945 is adopted as a baby by Charles and Maude Avery. He, a dissolute banker; she, the chain-smoking author of literary novels. From there Cyril's story proceeds by seven-year intervals as readers meet the characters who will populate the crowded stage of his life. Among them are Julian, the beautiful young man with whom Cyril is obsessed (Cyril is gay; Julian is straight); Bastiaan, the Dutch man who is the love of Julian's life; Ignac, the Slovenian boy who will become their surrogate son; and more. Boyne, who has a wonderful gift for characterization, does a splendid job of weaving these various lives together in ways that are richly dramatic, sometimes surprising, and always compelling. A vividly realized theme in the novel is the inhumane treatment of homosexuals in Ireland, largely at the behest of the Roman Catholic Church. Accordingly, the fear of being outed will cause Cyril to make some life-changing mistakes that, in context, are altogether plausible. Often quite funny, the story nevertheless has its sadness, sometimes approaching tragedy. Utterly captivating and not to be missed.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2017 Booklist

Library Journal
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In 2015, a ghost tells 70-year-old Cyril Avery he will soon die. Assured that he will rejoin lost loved ones, Cyril experiences a previously elusive peace. Cyril was born in Dublin in 1945 to an unwed teenager. His adoptive parents are eccentric and distant, though they shelter him from intolerance and cruelty as he comes to terms with his sexuality in a repressive Ireland. Cyril's life story is extraordinary, tragic, and triumphant and somehow revolves around his recurring acquaintance with the brave and resilient Mrs. Goggin. She's a sort of guardian angel in his formative years, but in middle age Cyril finds himself consoling his aging, vulnerable protector as she faces tragedy in her own remarkable life. Their compassion for each other ultimately leads them on a mutual quest for closure and renewal. -VERDICT Boyne dedicates his wise, beautiful 15th novel to John Irving. This tribute fits a story calling to mind the humane sagas of T.S. Garp, Owen Meaney, and the humble tale of Piggy Sneed. Readers will fall in love with Boyne's characters, especially Mrs. Goggin and Cyril's adoptive mother, Maude Avery, in this -heartbreaking and hilarious story. [See Prepub Alert, 2/27/17.]-John G. Matthews, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.