Yvonne Van Dongen: Anyone Can Make a Mistake

I love John Boyne’s writing. His versatility, deft touch, humanity, humour. As soon as I begin a John Boyne novel, I relax, knowing I’m in the hands of a master. That man has never let me down.

Well that’s not quite true. He almost did in 2019, when he criticised Irish screenwriter Graham Linehan for standing up for women. Though I never stopped reading him, I was mighty disappointed. But then, almost five years after first laying into Linehan, he saw the light. In 2023 Boyne had the good grace to apologise publicly.