Conduit Books Ltd – förlag

Malc'sBoy charts a son'sstruggle and friendship with his father amidst a legacy of toxic masculinityand violence. Shaun grows up in Wigton, a small market town on the fringes ofthe Lake District, as the son of Malc, a prominent publican with a fearsomereputation. More concerned with establishing himself as an artist than making aname for himself in the town's hierarchical pub scene, Shaun rebels against hisfather's expectations. But when Malc is attacked by an old enemy, Shaun isforced to confront his father's past and escape the life he's been expected tolead.

Vikram, Ravi and Sean, childhood friendsfrom south London, seem to be the only ones who have noticed that they havewings. As adults and 'multiples' - their hybrid human/animal forms - they areall now dealing with the personal and political fallout of what is turning outto be an unexpectedly turbulent present in which 'singulars' - narrow-minded,non-syncretic - are the ones making the weather.It feels like a dangerous time for anyone deemed an outsider. Humansociety has rarely been this reckless or rapacious, and the fragile ecosystemholding together all the unlikely alliances of 'animal nightlife' has beenplaced in mortal danger. Consumerism, greed, violence, and prejudice of everykind are ranged against the brave souls taking a stand by lining the telegraphwires as a final showdown draws ever closer.

Stuart is raised on a nature reserve in Cumbria; his family is poor. Stuart is sensitive - endlessly bullied in school, he believes in magic and feels more comfortable taking dance class than playing football. Stuart grows up straddling two worlds, becoming the first in his family to go to university. His father, an ex-con, is quick to throw a punch, and won't eat anything in public 'more flamboyant than a ploughman's' in case someone would take him for a 'nancy-boy'. An avid birdwatcher, he has found peace in his new life as a caretaker for a nature reserve.When his father is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Stuart grapples with grief as he tries to become the man he thinks his father would want him to be. Interwoven in the narrative are snippets of British wildlife, particularly the birds that captivate Stuart and his father, and reflect the bond they share.The writing is surprising, hilarious, and devastating. This is a story about grief, about masculinity, about the love of a parent and what remains when they're gone.