Have you ever wondered how complicit a bystander is in the crimes he silently witnesses? What is the burden of guilt he carries? To what extent does he understand the impact of his silence. How it causes pain, perpetuates misery and protects the criminal? What happens when that silence interferes with his personal life, hurting those closest to him? Can he still hide behind ignorance? How does he live under the weight of such shame? These are the questions John Boyne explores through Father Odran Yates in A History of Loneliness, a novel set against the backdrop of the child abuse scandals involving Catholic priests in Ireland.
It is a deeply thought-provoking book that forces you to confront the quiet role silence plays in sustaining injustice and the guilt and devastation that inevitably follow. The book is depressing yet utterly engrossing. It draws you in so completely that putting it down feels impossible.
by vedvineet98