Author John Boyne takes swipe at critics over Holocaust novel

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne with Lauren Laverne as he appears on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Photo: Amanda Benson/BBC Radio 4/PA Wire

Charlotte McLaughlin

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas author John Boyne has swiped away criticism of his book, saying that learning the facts of the Holocaust should not be done through reading a novel

The Dublin-born writer, 53, responded to criticism from Jewish groups and historians about his 2006 children's fiction book, which explores the tragic friendship between the son of an SS officer and a prisoner boy at Auschwitz during the Holocaust.