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Review: The Boyhood of Cain by Michael Amherst
A searing coming-of-age story of a boy grappling with the strangeness of life, this debut novel brims with beauty and a rare poignancy
Good debut novels are exciting because they come with the promise of more from the writer. Michael Amherst’s The Boyhood of Cain arrives with a whisper and then leave readers yearning for more. While it surprisingly does not read like a typical debut work, it still has all the charm of one.
Set in an English village, the novel follows prepubescent Daniel who attends a school where his father is the headmaster. An inquisitive child with tons of questions about family, religion and growing up, he wants to be liked. He wants to be seen as important but is simultaneously afraid to draw too much attention to himself. Being the headmaster’s son sets him apart. But when his father has a fall and leaves his job, Daniel’s life begins to change. To add to his predicament, he pines for the new boy at school while also wanting to be better than him. Heartbreaking and profound, this is a book that moves you with every turn of the page.
The author’s eye for detail is evident from the first paragraph where he describes the ‘large house’, the school ‘red brick like a doll’s house’, and the streets that intersect at a stone crosse ‘erected in memory of the townspeople who died in the wars.’ Details of such nature make the narrative pulse with life. The description of Daniel’s father whose ‘left leg has swollen to twice the size of the right’ is particularly affecting and offsets the course of the family’s life as both school and the sense of home wither away for the child. Death looms over the household and its two children who are still too young to make a name in the world.
Early on, in the book’s second chapter, Daniel argues with his mother about not wanting to go to school even as she tells him why attending it gives meaning and purpose to his life. Readers of JM Coetzee will recall his 2016-Booker-longlisted The Schooldays of Jesus. That book’s David and Amherst’s Daniel are determined not to go to school and their conversations with their respective parents are similar. However, the difference between the two characters is also stark. While Coetzee’s David wants to sing and dance, Daniel is still unaware of what he could possibly do other than studying. Also, while Coetzee’s child is viewed through Simon, his father, here readers experience life through Daniel’s eyes. Amherst expertly transports the reader directly into the mind of the boy with all its youthful inconsistencies.
The storytelling is replete with Biblical allusions. From the title that refers to the parable of the cursed child Cain to the presence of failed parents, the book rests on the shoulders of Christianity, echoing the strongly religious nature of a village community. While Daniel’s alignment with Cain is obvious, his failed parents undo the Adam-Eve narrative.
A searing coming-of-age story of a boy grappling with the strangeness of life, The Boyhood of Cain depends almost too wholly on Daniel’s thoughts. There are vignettes and episodes of him growing inquisitive about and being stressed by external demands but none of him ever acting out. Unlike Coetzee’s David whose character does things, Amherst’s Daniel is somewhat restrained and occasionally reads like a character with the mind of an adult.
Still, Amherst’s book brims with beauty and poignancy. Rarely has queer boyhood been handled with as much sensitivity and empathy. Daniel and his family stay with the reader long after the novel is over making this a work of great calibre.
Rahul Singh is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Presidency University, Kolkata. He writes about books at (@rahulzsing) X and (@fook_bood) Instagram.
