The Wounded Me

LoveReading Says

Available from Blackwater Press

A story of family, community and leadership and the life changing consequences of experiencing a new perspective. 

The Wounded Me has characters that were interestingly inspired by the figures depicted in The Wounded Angel, a painting by Hugo Simberg. A community of young boys live on HomeVillage and each year a team goes out to capture another young boy and bring him home. The HomeVillage Leaders left the neglect of their families in the feared town of Belua to build something for themselves, bringing in new boys each year to protect and raise them. On this year’s journey, Guide Peter and Helper Jamie discover a young bird child, who Jamie insists is captured. We see the bond between the young boys grow on the journey back, as well as exploring flashbacks to offer more insight into the community they’re returning to. But will the brothers and HomeVillage accept someone different from them?

There is a gently magical feel to this compelling book. The story of the brothers going to live in the woods has almost a classic fairy tale feel to it, Peter Pan kept coming to mind as I read. The folkloric way in which history is shared through stories with the rest of the group belies the darker themes of the story in much the same way as a classic fairy tale too. Peter’s perspective provides an intriguing lens to read the story through, as a boy who is in a respectable position within the group and a true believer of the brothers’ rules and lifestyle as the fissures start to show. At its heart, I think The Wounded Me is a story of brotherhood and a search for safety, which melds with the author’s inspiration, the Venezuelan crisis and diaspora. All the while the seeds are sown to ask bigger questions about what we are willing to do to belong and why it is that we can find ourselves following leaders without question. This is a captivating magical realism read. 

Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador

LoveReading Ambassador

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