The Irish writer John Boyne’s first collection of short stories is mostly a triumph, barring a couple of insubstantial squibs towards the end. Over the course of a dozen stories, he moves deftly between a moneyed couple’s marriage problems while travelling the world in the 1920s, to the everyday existence of a 19-year-old rent boy in present-day Dublin. Some of the stories are sad, others hilariously funny; an account of two warring novelists has comic gusto to spare.
If there is a unifying thread, it is that identity is an ever-mutable thing, and that convictions and beliefs can be overturned far quicker than might seem possible. At its best – as in the justly award-winning story Rest Day – Boyne offers writing of insight and beauty that elevates this collection to impressive heights indeed, and confirms him as one of Ireland’s finest contemporary writers.
Beneath the Earth is published by Doubleday (14.99). Click here to order it for £11.99
