The Richard and Judy Bookclub pick that readers are falling in love with.

'Its been a long time since I read anything so compelling and satisfying. At times, incredibly funny, at others, heartrending - Sarah Winman, author ofTin Man Forced to flee the scandal brewing in her hometown, Catherine Goggin finds herself pregnant and alone, in search of a new life at just sixteen. She knows she has no choice but to believe that the nun she entrusts her child to will find him a better life.

Cyril Avery is not a real Avery, or so his parents are constantly reminding him. Adopted as a baby, hes never quite felt at home with the family that treats him more as a curious pet than a son. But it is all he has ever known.

And so begins one mans desperate search to find his place in the world. Unspooling and unseeing, Cyril is a misguided, heart-breaking, heartbroken fool. Buffeted by the harsh winds of circumstance towards the one thing that might save him from himself, but when opportunity knocks, will he have the courage, finally, take it?

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, five for young readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning bookThe Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, Johns other novels, notablyThe AbsolutistandA History of Loneliness, have been widely praised and are international bestsellers. Most recently, The Heart's Invisible Furies was a Richard&Judy Bookclub word-of-mouth bestseller.

His novels are published in over fifty languages.