John Boyne is the author of sixteen novels for adults, six for younger readers, a picture book and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theatre, ballet and opera. His many international bestsellers include The Heart’s Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky. He has won four Irish Book Awards, including Author of the Year in 2022, along with a host of other international literary prizes, including most recently both the 2025 Prix Femina Étranger and the Prix du Roman FNAC in France for The Elements. His novels are published in sixty languages.Twitter: @JohnBoyneInstagram: @JohnBoyneAuthor

It’s impossible to put down: devastating and devastatingly good, one of my top three children’s novels of the year so far . . . A difficult story to pull off, but with his perfect pacing, lack of sentimentality and refusal to submit to a neat end, Boyne has won me over – all over again