The Boyhood of Cain

(Hardback, Main)

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Description

Danny's family live in a large house close to the school where his father is headmaster. At school, his father's importance gives Danny certain privileges, but it also sets him apart from his classmates. When a new boy Philip, for whom everything seems easy, arrives, he surprises Danny by wanting to be friends. So when he and Philip are invited to work after school with inspiring, artistic teacher Mr. Miller, Danny believes he has found somewhere he can shine.

Until Danny's world tilts: his father loses his job, and their house. And then Danny finds himself shut out from Mr. Miller and Philip's world too. Desperate to make amends, he keeps trying to find a way back in, but will Danny's efforts send things spinning beyond everyone's control

Author Bio

Michael Amherst has been published in the Guardian, New Statesman, the Spectator, The White Review and Contrappasso magazine. His book-length essay, Go the Way Your Blood Beats, won the 2019 Stonewall Nonfiction Prize. He is also the winner of the 2020 Hubert Butler Essay Prize and was shortlisted for the Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts. His short fiction has been longlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, and has featured at Stroud Short Stories, the inaugural London LitCrawl and the Accidental Festival at London's Roundhouse. The Boyhood of Cain is his first novel.