My Heart is a Little Wild Thing

Blood is thicker than water, but the heart is a little wild thing that can’t be tamed.

The day after I tried to kill my mother, I tossed some clothes, a pair of hiking boots, a baseball cap and a few toiletries into my backpack, and left at dawn.

Patrick has always considered himself a good son. Willing to live his life to please his parents, his sense of duty paramount to his own desires and dreams. But as his mother’s health continues to deteriorate and his siblings remain absent, he finds the ties that bind him to his mother begin to chafe.

After an argument leads to a violent act, he travels to a familiar country retreat to reflect on what his life could be – and through a chance encounter with a rare animal and an intriguing stranger starts to wonder if perhaps it is not too late to let his heart run wild.

A story about family, love and the cost of freedom, My Heart is a Little Wild Thing serves as a reminder that we all deserve to pursue our dreams.

About the Author

Nigel Featherstone is the author of Bodies of Men, which was long-listed for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize, Highly Commended for the 2020 ACT Book of the Year, shortlisted in the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards, and received a 2019 Canberra Critics Circle Award. Nigel lives on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, and spends considerable time in Canberra, the national capital of Australia.