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Lambda Literary Award nominee for Best Gay Fiction
"Set in contemporary New York City, this is a beautiful dark queer re-envisioning of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Wynne immediately engages the reader with finely detailed descriptions, nuanced characters, and an air of mystery that makes this 400 page novel read like a novella... " (Jamie Jones, Lambda Literary Review)
How far would you go to feel alive?
After John Laith loses his beloved partner Frank, he feels he's lost the will to live life fully -- until he rescues a handsome young dancer in a pair of glittering red shoes from a brutal assault. By way of thanks, the dancer gives Laith the red shoes which lead him down a dangerous path in a vividly brought to life Manhattan. On his new journey he must survive obsessive relationships and psychological manipulation from unpredictable and chillingly unforgettable characters:
Silvio -- a macho city cop
Crewe -- a narcissistic millionaire living in a penthouse with his wife and daughter
Baily -- a drug-addicted bouncer in a nightclub
An innocent in a sinister underworld, Laith must grapple with grief, obsession, lust, addiction, and spirituality in a city where salvation and destruction walk side by side. He's left to wonder -- Is his newfound fascination with the dark side fueled by the cursed powers of the red shoes... or from hidden forces within himself?
In this riveting battle between the sacred and the profane, Laith must choose -- either surrender to the darkness, or reclaim the life he thought he'd lost forever.
Praise for THE RED SHOES
"Wynne elegantly blends spirituality, sensuality, obsession, lust, drug (ab)use, as well as interspersed social and cultural commentary. Along with the beauty of Wynne's language throughout the novel, there are many scenes that are not for the faint of heart. Some of the explicitly visceral sections led me back to take a break from reading. The intricacy and intrigue of the story, however, brought me back." (Jamie Jones, Lambda Literary Review)
"I read this so fast I got blisters turning the pages. THE RED SHOES is so astonishingly good, original, beautiful and amazing... it's like a sumptuous meal with all flavors -- salty, bitter, sweet, hot.
"I was riveted -- John Stewart Wynne writes such brilliant back and forth dialogue. I love the Gothic feeling of terrible impending doom, and the counterbalancing elements of light. I am really astounded at the way Wynne writes about sex -- how deep it can go, the different ways it can satisfy.
"His writing is free of compromise, fear... he never pulls his punches. And his voice really doesn't sound like anyone else's. He has the rare ability to write on a plane floating just above life, or below it, to stay with what is happening just beyond the actions and conversations of his characters. I feel I've been given a special line into the narrator's soul.
"THE RED SHOES is a great work of art." (Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award winner)
John Stewart Wynne is also the author of the story collections THE OTHER WORLD ("One of the best books of the decade." -- The James White Review) and the recently published CONSEQUENCES OF ATTRACTION. His writing has been praised by such writers as National Book Award winner Paul Monette, Lambda Literary Award winner Rebecca Brown, Hubert Selby Jr., James Purdy, Prix Goncourt winner Yves Navarre, and Charles Palliser.
Wynne has also written a number of stories for Tree Line Books' ebook only Story Book Series -- Louise, Don't Go; The Sighting; Narcissist; Blonds; A Night in the Pampas; The Needles Highway; and Afternoon.
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