The Boy Between
An expertly crafted, suspenseful story of family secrets and one fateful summer
Published on 6. August 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-1-4736-1806-0 (ISBN)
Description
Mags keeps everything safe in the box. Letters. Postcards. Photographs. Each memento plays a role in the secret story that's always in her thoughts. A story that can't remain hidden forever.
When Orla is handed an envelope by her father, she is perplexed by what she finds - a photograph of her parents, taken the summer she was born. Her heavily expectant mother, unusually, is smiling. Between her parents stands a teenage boy, her mother's arm lovingly around him.
Orla later asks her father about the boy's identity, but he refuses to be drawn. Her mother's mood is low again and he doesn't want her upset. So begins the daughter's investigation, back to the summer of 1983, and the story of a young English boy on holidays in rural Ireland. As the circle closes on a web of tragedy and deceit, the truth that emerges will impact on all their lives.
The Boy Between is an expertly crafted, suspenseful and ultimately hopeful story of family secrets, a fateful summer, and the long-buried events of a distant past.
When Orla is handed an envelope by her father, she is perplexed by what she finds - a photograph of her parents, taken the summer she was born. Her heavily expectant mother, unusually, is smiling. Between her parents stands a teenage boy, her mother's arm lovingly around him.
Orla later asks her father about the boy's identity, but he refuses to be drawn. Her mother's mood is low again and he doesn't want her upset. So begins the daughter's investigation, back to the summer of 1983, and the story of a young English boy on holidays in rural Ireland. As the circle closes on a web of tragedy and deceit, the truth that emerges will impact on all their lives.
The Boy Between is an expertly crafted, suspenseful and ultimately hopeful story of family secrets, a fateful summer, and the long-buried events of a distant past.
Reviews / Votes
The Boy Between is a powerful, moving story that stays with the reader long after the last page has been read. Stairs has most assuredly confirmed her place within the voices of quality Irish fiction * Irish Independent * It's an un-put-down-able mystery with an unexpectedly emotional impact * Stellar magazine on The Boy Between * ...its cast of believable characters will transport readers back to those precarious days of childhood, a time when playground antics are often a matter of life and death * The Irish Times on The Story of Before * The Story of Before is a bewitching read, a book that transports you back to the world of childhood, where everything outside of yourself is a mystery to be unravelled. Beautifully observed, the novel conjures up the landscape of 1970s Dublin as effectively as a time machine. I can't recommend it highly enough * Kathleen MacMahon, author of This is How it Ends, on The Story of Before * Stairs revels in sharp physical description, tinged with implication ... Familiar and unsettling ... An assured debut' * The Sunday Times on The Story of Before * With this moving and evocative novel, Stairs has won her spurs as an emerging new voice in Irish quality women's fiction * Irish Independent on The Story of Before * The Story of Before is a mesmerising psychological coming-of-age novel * Irish Examiner on The Story of Before *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Castleknock
Ireland
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
418 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4736-1806-0 (9781473618060)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Susan Stairs lives in Dublin with her family. She is the acclaimed author of The Story of Before and The Boy Between.
www.susanstairs.com
www.susanstairs.com