'The day after I tried to kill my mother, I tossed some clothes, a pair of hiking boots, a baseball cap and a few toiletries into my backpack, and left at dawn.
'Patrick has always considered himself a good son. Willing to live his life to please his parents, his sense of duty paramount to his own desires and dreams. But as his mother’s health continues to deteriorate and his siblings remain absent, he finds the ties that bind him to his mother begin to chafe.
'After an argument leads to a violent act he travels to a familiar country escape to reflect on what his life could be – and through a chance encounter with a rare animal and an intriguing stranger starts to wonder if perhaps it is not too late to let his heart run wild.
'A story about family, love and the cost of freedom, My Heart is a Little Wild Thingserves as a reminder that we all deserve to pursue our dreams.'
Source : publication summary
'This tender story of family and relationships is also a coming-out tale that sees the protagonist wresting control of his own life.'
'At first glance, neither Marlo nor My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing seemed particularly appealing. Both focus on queer men pining for love in a homophobic world. Both appeared to recycle what Jay Carmichael (Marlo’s author) calls ‘the tradition of tragedy in queer literature’. Digging deeper, we find that the novels offer nuanced and even uplifting perspectives on gay male experience over the decades. There are moments of adversity, but it’s the resilience and emotional strength of the protagonists – their ability to find pleasure in even dire situations – that make both books so compelling.' (Introduction)
'“The day after I tried to kill my mother, I tossed some clothes, a pair of hiking boots, a baseball cap and a few toiletries into my backpack, and left at dawn.” So begins Nigel Featherstone’s My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing. It is swiftly apparent, however, that the protagonist, Patrick, is not really a Camus-esque matricidal sociopath but rather a repressed, middle-aged gay man who is increasingly coming to resent his elderly mother, for whom he has primary caring responsibilities.' (Introduction)
'“The day after I tried to kill my mother, I tossed some clothes, a pair of hiking boots, a baseball cap and a few toiletries into my backpack, and left at dawn.” So begins Nigel Featherstone’s My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing. It is swiftly apparent, however, that the protagonist, Patrick, is not really a Camus-esque matricidal sociopath but rather a repressed, middle-aged gay man who is increasingly coming to resent his elderly mother, for whom he has primary caring responsibilities.' (Introduction)
'At first glance, neither Marlo nor My Heart Is a Little Wild Thing seemed particularly appealing. Both focus on queer men pining for love in a homophobic world. Both appeared to recycle what Jay Carmichael (Marlo’s author) calls ‘the tradition of tragedy in queer literature’. Digging deeper, we find that the novels offer nuanced and even uplifting perspectives on gay male experience over the decades. There are moments of adversity, but it’s the resilience and emotional strength of the protagonists – their ability to find pleasure in even dire situations – that make both books so compelling.' (Introduction)
'This tender story of family and relationships is also a coming-out tale that sees the protagonist wresting control of his own life.'
