The Red Shoes - Paperback

by John Stewart Wynne (Author)

How far would you go to feel alive?

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..." (Lambda Literary Review)

"I read this so fast I got blisters turning the pages. The Red Shoes is astonishingly good -- original, beautiful, amazing. A great work of art." (Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award winner)

After John Laith loses his beloved partner Frank, he believes he's lost the will to live life fully -- until he rescues a handsome young dancer from a brutal assault. By way of thanks, the dancer gives Laith a pair of glittering 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 with 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, sensuality, and spirituality in a city where salvation and destruction walk side by side. He's left to wonder -- Is his fascination with the dark side fueled by the magical powers of the red shoes...or from hidden forces within himself?

In this riveting battle between the sacred and the profane, Laith must choose: surrender to the darkness, or reclaim the life he thought he'd lost forever.