An octogenarian haunted by his past makes one last journey to Russia where he remembers his youth in St. Petersburg at the czar's Winter Palace and the bloody revolution that caused sweeping changes in his country and in his life.

From the author of The Absolutist, a propulsive novel of the Russian Revolution and the fate of the Romanovs.

Part love story, part historical epic, part tragedy, The House of Special Purpose illuminates an empire at the end of its reign. Eighty-year-old Georgy Jachmenev is haunted by his past—a past of death, suffering, and scandal that will stay with him until the end of his days. Living in England with his beloved wife, Zoya, Georgy prepares to make one final journey back to the Russia he once knew and loved, the Russia that both destroyed and defined him. As Georgy remembers days gone by, we are transported to St. Petersburg, to the Winter Palace of the czar, in the early twentieth century—a time of change, threat, and bloody revolution. As Georgy overturns the most painful stone of all, we uncover the story of the house of special purpose.

An octogenarian haunted by his past makes one last journey to Russia where he remembers his youth in St. Petersburg at the czar's Winter Palace and the bloody revolution that caused sweeping changes in his country and in his life.

An octogenarian haunted by his past makes one last journey to Russia where he remembers his youth in St. Petersburg at the czar's Winter Palace and the bloody revolution that caused sweeping changes in his country and in his life.

Barnaby Brocket is an ordinary 8-year-old boy in most ways, but he was born different in one important way: he floats. Unlike everyone else, Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. His parents, who have a horror of being noticed, want desperately for Barnaby to be normal, but he can't help who he is. And when the unthinkable happens, Barnaby finds himself on a journey that takes him all over the world. From Brazil to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even to space, the floating boy meets all sorts of different people—and discovers who he really is along the way.

This whimsical novel will delight middle graders, and make readers of all ages question the meaning of normal.

Barnaby Brocket is an ordinary 8-year-old boy in most ways, but he was born different in one important way: he floats. Unlike everyone else, Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. His parents, who have a horror of being noticed, want desperately for Barnaby to be normal, but he can't help who he is. And when the unthinkable happens, Barnaby finds himself on a journey that takes him all over the world. From Brazil to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even to space, the floating boy meets all sorts of different people—and discovers who he really is along the way.

This whimsical novel will delight middle graders, and make readers of all ages question the meaning of normal.

Leggere questo libro significa fare un viaggio. Prendere per mano, o meglio farsi prendere per mano da Bruno, un bambino di nove anni, e cominciare a camminare. Presto o tardi si arriverà davanti a un recinto. Uno di quei recinti che esistono in tutto il mondo, uno di quelli che ci si augura di non dover mai varcare. Siamo nel 1942 e il padre di Bruno è il comandante di un campo di sterminio. Non sarà dunque difficile comprendere che cosa sia questo recinto di rete metallica, oltre il quale si vede una costruzione in mattoni rossi sormontata da un altissimo camino. Ma sarà amaro e doloroso, com'è doloroso e necessario accompagnare Bruno fino a quel recinto, fino alla sua amicizia con Shmuel, un bambino polacco che sta dall'altro lato della rete, nel recinto, prigioniero. John Boyne ci consegna una storia che dimostra meglio di qualsiasi spiegazione teorica come in una guerra tutti sono vittime, e tra loro quelli a cui viene sempre negata la parola sono proprio i bambini. Età di lettura: da 12 anni.

Russia, 1915. Georgij Jachmenev è figlio di un contadino e ha solo sedici'anni quando salva un membro della famiglia imperiale da un attentato. Dall'"izba" di legno nel remoto villaggio rurale di Kasin al Palazzo d'Inverno il passo è breve. Georgij diventa la guardia del corpo di Aleksej Romanov, l'unico figlio maschio dello zar Nicola II, destinato a ereditare il trono. Nei sontuosi corridoi del Palazzo d'Inverno, ornati di malachite e oro zecchino, Georgij diviene l'ombra fedele dello zarevic e assiste impotente alle ambigue trame di Rasputin, alle incertezze fatali dello zar, ai presagi della disfatta che presto travolgerà il regime. E soprattutto incontra l'amore della sua vita. Più di mezzo secolo dopo, la donna che da molti anni è sua moglie e si fa chiamare Zoja sta morendo in un ospedale di Londra. Georgij ripensa al loro amore indissolubile ma segnato dall'esperienza dell'esilio e dal peso di un segreto mai tradito.

A masterfully told tale of passion, jealousy, heroism and betrayal set in the gruesome trenches of World War I.

It is September 1919: 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 Tristan 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 tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. This novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and will stay with them long after they've turned the last page.


Praise for The Absolutist:

"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 Gebler

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

"John Boyne brings a completely fresh eye to the most important stories. He is one of the great craftsmen in contemporary literature." --Colum McCann

"A wonderful, sad, tender book that is going to have an enormous impact on everyone who reads it." --Colm Toibin

"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

"(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

Eight-year-old Noah's problems seem easier to deal with if he doesn't think about them. So he runs away, taking an untrodden path through the forest.

Before long, he comes across a shop. But this is no ordinary shop: it's a toyshop, full of the most amazing toys, and brimming with the most wonderful magic. And here Noah meets a very unusual toymaker. The toymaker has a story to tell, and it's a story of adventure and wonder and broken promises. He takes Noah on a journey. A journey that will change his life.

EL NINO CON EL PIJAMA DE RAYAS - BOYNE JOHN - Salamandra

LA CASA DEL PROPOSITO ESPECIAL - BOYNE JOHN - Salamandra

NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY - BOYNE JOHN - Random UK

Eight-year-old Noah's problems seem easier to deal with if he doesn't think about them. So he runs away, taking an untrodden path through the forest.

Before long, he comes across a shop. But this is no ordinary shop: it's a toyshop, full of the most amazing toys, and brimming with the most wonderful magic. And here Noah meets a very unusual toymaker. The toymaker has a story to tell, and it's a story of adventure and wonder and broken promises. He takes Noah on a journey. A journey that will change his life.


From the Hardcover edition.

Eight-year-old Noah's problems seem easier to deal with if he doesn't think about them. So he runs away, taking an untrodden path through the forest.

Before long, he comes across a shop. But this is no ordinary shop: it's a toyshop, full of the most amazing toys, and brimming with the most wonderful magic. And here Noah meets a very unusual toymaker. The toymaker has a story to tell, and it's a story of adventure and wonder and broken promises. He takes Noah on a journey. A journey that will change his life.

In the late-nineteenth century, seven-year-old Cedric leaves America to live with his grandfather in England, where he becomes heir to a title, an estate, and a fortune.

Recounts the classic tales of Robin Hood, his merry men, and Maid Marian as they try to outwit the Sheriff of Nottingham and the tyrannical Prince John.

Recounts the life and adventures of Robin Hood, who, with his band of followers, lived as an outlaw in Sherwood Forest dedicated to fighting tyranny.

Portsmouth, 1787. È la vigilia di Natale, e il ladruncolo John Jacob Turnstile, quattordici anni, è stato preso di nuovo con le mani nel sacco. Questa volta, può scegliere la sua condanna: un anno di galera o due come sguattero a bordo di una nave. Il ragazzo non ha dubbi: sceglie il mare. Il Bounty è un maestoso vascello della flotta inglese, e John, incantato dalla vastità dell'oceano, accoglie con tutta la meraviglia di cui è capace la nuovissima vita che gli si apre di fronte. Senza immaginare che sta andando incontro a uno dei viaggi per mare più travagliati di tutti i tempi, diventando testimone della più celebre rivolta della storia della marina britannica. Ma negli occhi spalancati e impazienti di un ragazzo, anche una pericolosa avventura come quella che porterà il Bounty a Tahiti, terra coloratissima dove il tempo sembra non essere mai cominciato, può diventare un'irripetibile occasione di crescere davvero, e imparare il significato dell'amicizia, della lealtà, del coraggio. Per assaporare, finalmente, qualcosa che somiglia molto alla libertà. Con questo nuovo romanzo, John Boyne ci regala una storia piena di emozione e di avventura, raccontando con straordinaria delicatezza il passaggio all'età adulta di un ragazzo che la vita ha messo dura prova.

Berlin 1942
When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.