Tragicomic, revealing, and empathetic - John Boyne's "Cyril Avery" is a magnificent Irish portrait of manners and society. From before his birth, Cyril Avery's life is marked by misfortune. As an illegitimate child, he has no place in the conservative Irish society of the 1940s. An eccentric couple from Dublin eventually takes him in, but he still does not feel at home there. Until one day, a boy appears in the hallway - and with him begins an adventure that leads Cyril to discover exactly what he has always been searching for: his place in this crazy world. An epic full of spirit, wit, and heart.