The life of a good priest in Ireland over the past 50 years provokes one of John Boyne's most powerful novels yet. Odran Yates enters Clonliffe Seminary in 1972 full of ambition and hope. 40 years later, Odran's devotion has been challenged by the revelations that have shattered the Irish people's faith in the church. He has seen friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed. But when a family tragedy opens wounds from his past, he is forced to confront the demons that have raged within a once respected institution and recognise his own complicity in their propagation.