An English Gentleman
by Sky Gilbert
Winner of the 2005 ReLit Award (Novel)
Manny Masters is a failed graduate student of English Literature. He is bequeathed by his mentor, Leslie Sexton, a collection of letters stolen from the home of Nicholas Llewelyn Davies, the only surviving adopted son of J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. The letters are what survives of a correspondence that included up to 2,000 exchanges between adoptive father and son, Michael Llewelyn Davies. In Manny's hands, these letters become academic fodder — the basis for a dissertation that examines the presumed romantic relationship between Barrie and his charge.
Set against the backdrop of New York City after the worst of the AIDS crisis has passed, the novel explores the relationship between the suppression of sexual desire and the development of a kind of death wish for the beloved.
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