Beneath the Earth

by John Boyne

0 ratings • 0 reviews • 0 shelved
Book cover for Beneath the Earth

Bookhype may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

In this collection of twelve dark, unerring and surprising short stories, John Boyne explores the extremities of the human condition in all its brilliance and brutality. The secrets we keep and the ways in which they shape us, the impossibility of shared loss, the lengths we will go to in order to protect our families and the distance we will run to protect ourselves.


Drawing on a host of enthralling characters – a farmer, a cuckold and a teenager exploring his sexuality; good parents, bad parents, writers and soldiers; a student, a rent boy and a hitman – Boyne examines the hopeful and the damaged without prejudice or judgement.


This, his first collection of short stories, is some of John Boyne’s finest writing to date. It includes ‘Rest Day’ which won the 2015 Writing.ie Short Story of the Year award in Ireland.

  • ISBN10 1784160997
  • ISBN13 9781784160999
  • Publish Date 7 April 2016 (first published 27 August 2015)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
  • Imprint Black Swan
  • Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
  • Pages 272
  • Language English