The Absolutist - by John Boyne (Paperback)

About the Book

"It is September 1919, and twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War. But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As he recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will--from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France tensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"A moving and deeply felt tribute to a love that dared to speak its name." --André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name

A new edition of the beloved novel most similar thematically to the author's mega-bestseller The Heart's Invisible Furies

It is September 1919, and twenty-one-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a package of letters to the sister of Will Bancroft, the man he fought alongside during the Great War.

But the letters are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He can no longer keep a secret and has finally found the courage to unburden himself of it. As he recounts the horrific details of what to him became a senseless war, he also speaks of his friendship with Will-from their first meeting on the training grounds at Aldershot to their farewell in the trenches of northern France. The intensity of their bond brought Tristan happiness and self-discovery as well as confusion and unbearable pain.

The Absolutist is a masterful, unforgettable tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I.

Review Quotes

"A moving and deeply felt tribute to a love that dared to speak its name once--or maybe twice--and then forever held its tongue. We suffer in silence, we love in silence, and we regret and learn to live our unlived lives in silence as well." --André Aciman, author of Call Me by Your Name

"A novel of immeasurable sadness, in a league with Graham Greene's The End of the Affair...Boyne is very, very good at portraying the destructive power of a painfully kept secret...this is a forbidden love story, a gay love story, but one with a terrible twist." --John Irving, author of A Prayer for Owen Meany

"John Boyne brings a completely fresh eye to the most important stories...He is one of the great craftsmen in contemporary literature." --Colum McCann, National Book Award-winning author of Let the Great World Spin

"A wonderful, sad, tender book [that] is going to have an enormous impact on everyone who reads it." --Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn

"A gripping, superbly plotted novel, filled with surprises that are by turns confounding, disturbing and tremendously moving. For all its spellbinding narrative momentum, The Absolutist is, in the end, a sober meditation on the heartbreak that ensues when people and principles collide." --Paul Russell, author of The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov

"Extraordinary...The narrative is by turns surprising and tragic in equal measure while its troubling conclusion will stay with readers long after they've closed the book." --Carlo Gébler, author of The Dead Eight

"Powerful, poignant, and beautifully written. This will become a classic war novel." --The Bookseller

"A fable about forbidden love in the first world war...effortlessly readable." --The Guardian

"Political, personal, powerful...a fiercely interrogative novel that asks not just what it means to be a man but also what it means to be a human being in the extreme circumstances of war." --Irish Times

"A relentlessly tragic yet beautifully crafted novel." --Publishers Weekly

"A thought-provoking and surprising page-turner that for some readers may recall Ian McEwan's Atonement." --Library Journal

"Poetic, passionate, and poignant, The Absolutist is about self-discovery, friendship, and how far bravery can take us." --Interview Magazine

"What is most memorable here is the timelessly doomed relationship between Tristan and Will, marked by tenderness and confusion and cruelty in the face of their own internalized repression...This is a wonderfully crafted tragedy that will stay with the reader." --The Daily Beast (Hot Read)

"What begins as a slow-building World War I period piece...grows deeper, more curious, and uneasy as it progresses--and midway through this sad and beautiful story, you realize you're in the hands of a quiet master...a taut and tragic tale of love and war, with a kick-in-the-gut ending." --Amazon (Best Books of the Month)

"A powerful story about love, hate, courage, guilt, and war where nothing is simple and everything might not be as it seems." --Shelf Awareness

"This is a different kind of journey into the darkness of war, told by a gifted, powerful novelist, and the result is a book with an often staggering emotional punch." --Book Page

"An outstanding, thought-provoking look at the passionate choices we make, and how we react to life-changing situations. Much recommended for all readers, five full stars out of five." --Yahoo (Editor's pick of the month)

"A slim, tightly wound novel of love and disaster." --The Millions

"An unforgettable story that transcends genres." --Huntington News

"A riveting look into what drives the relationships we have in spite of the world around us." --Seattle Gay News

"This is great modern literature with fantastic artistic appeal and superb writing, a story of duty, honor, love, high passion, and integrity." --Book Reporter

"Writing of this sensitivity and simply verbal beauty is rare. Boyne is rapidly becoming one of the great writers of the century." --Literary Aficionado

"An outstanding read, very highly recommended." --Historical Novel Society

"[In] Boyne's fiction, there's a sense that people are fundamentally the sum of their traumas...Boyne's narrative grip is strong." --Literary Review

"For me, the world totally ceased to exist while I was reading The Absolutist...If you plan on reading just one book this winter, this should be it." --Washington Blade

"The Absolutist needs to be read, for society always needs to be reminded that war and civilization are mutually exclusive, and that if we still have war, then we're not yet civilized." --The Coffin Factory

About the Author

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971 and is the author of twelve novels for adults, most recently the New York Times bestseller The Heart's Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky, and A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom as well as six novels for teens and young adults including the #1 New York Times bestselling The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.