Jennifer Johnston’s moving, yet sparse and unsentimental, account of a sensitive young boy growing up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland
Jennifer Johnston
Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin in 1930. She is one of the foremost Irish writers of her, or any, generation
Over a long and successful career, Johnston’s work has earned numerous award and prizes. She won the Whitbread Prize for The Old Jest, the Evening Standard Best First Novel Award for The Captains and the Kings and the Yorkshire Post Best Book of the Year twice – for The Captains and the Kings and How Many Miles to Babylon. She was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize 1977 with Shadows on Our Skin. In 2012 she was recognised for her lifetime of literary achievement by the Irish Book Awards.