It is not often that a book completely grips me from start to finish, but that happened when I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by Irish author John Boyne.

It is a very simple novel, written from the point of view of a nine-year-old child, and is short enough to be read in one sitting.

I had already seen the film based on the book so knew the ending, somewhat reducing its impact but in no way limiting the book’s skill of looking at adult evil through the innocent, naive and unknowing eyes of a child.

The mysterious world of grown-ups and older siblings is crafted beautifully by Boyne, and the blossoming friendship between young Berliner Bruno and his new friend Shmaul, the titular boy in the striped pyjamas, who he finds behind a mysterious fence, bought a lump to this writer’s throat.