Michael Amherst – författare

** An Irish Times and New Yorker Book of the Year ** 'Terrific.' Guardian 'A powerful, searing tale.' André Aciman'I read this book with my heart in my mouth and could not put it down.' Mary Costello'Amherst has created a young protagonist of extraordinary depth and complexity.' Nathan Filer'A beautiful coming-of-age story.' Michael Magee'A stellar achievement.' The CriticA poignant debut novel about a boy on the precipice of adulthood, struggling to understand how he might give and deserve love.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?Readers love The Boyhood of Cain ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Beautifully written study of childhood innocence into adolescence. Short but perfectly formed.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Emotional and very atmospheric.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'So evocative.'⭐⭐⭐⭐'The book captures the delicate, almost ethereal atmosphere of English summers and schoolyard anxieties.'⭐⭐⭐⭐'The insight into the mind of the boy is exceptional and the result is very moving.'

** An Irish Times and New Yorker Book of the Year ** 'Terrific.' Guardian 'A powerful, searing tale.' André Aciman'I read this book with my heart in my mouth and could not put it down.' Mary Costello'Amherst has created a young protagonist of extraordinary depth and complexity.' Nathan Filer'A beautiful coming-of-age story.' Michael Magee'A stellar achievement.' The CriticA poignant debut novel about a boy on the precipice of adulthood, struggling to understand how he might give and deserve love.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?Readers love The Boyhood of Cain ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Beautifully written study of childhood innocence into adolescence. Short but perfectly formed.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Emotional and very atmospheric.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'So evocative.'⭐⭐⭐⭐'The book captures the delicate, almost ethereal atmosphere of English summers and schoolyard anxieties.'⭐⭐⭐⭐'The insight into the mind of the boy is exceptional and the result is very moving.'

'A new literary star is born.' The Times'A beautiful and profound novel about a boy's coming to consciousness as his family falls apart.' Mary Costello'A powerful, searing tale.' André Aciman'A terrific queer coming-of-age debut.' Guardian'If none of us can be as we want, then what is the point in anything? Danny cannot believe his life should be prescribed for him, written out already.'In a small rural town trapped between two rivers, Danny is on the cusp of adolescence and eager to find his own place in the world. At home, life is complicated: his father has lost his job and his mother has retreated to her room. His only solace is the arrival of Philip, a new boy in school, whom he worships with a confused intensity. Desperate to prove his own worth, Danny finds himself caught between his mother and father, self and desire, and obedience and rebellion.

Using bisexuality as a frame, Go the Way Your Blood Beats questions the division of sexuality into straight and gay, in a timely exploration of the complex histories and psychologies of human desire.A challenge to the idea that sexuality can either ever be fully known or neatly categorised, it is a meditation on desire's unknowability. Interwoven with anonymous addresses to past loves - the sex of whom remain obscure - the book demonstrates the universalism of human desire.Part essay, part memoir, part love letter, Go the Way Your Blood Beats asks us to see desire and sexuality as analogous with art - a mysterious, creative force.