The Carnivorous Lamb

The latest in the Little Sister's Classics series resurrecting gay and lesbian literary gems: a viciously funny, shocking yet ultimately moving 1975 novel, an allegory of Franco's Spain, about a young gay man coming of age with a mother who despises him, a father who ignores him, and a brother who loves him. The novel is set in the 1950s, narrated by a 13-year-old who describes himself as a "carnivorous lamb"; an innocent who in truth is anything but. The youngest of two sons, he is kept sheltered at home by his overbearing mother until his thirteenth birthday, and disciplined by his tutor and the family priest so that he may follow the right path to adulthood. But he rebels against those who wish to contain him, and his turbulent rites of passage are veiled responses to a hateful mother, an indifferent father, and the authority of church and state. In this way, The Carnivorous Lamb is both an incisive family saga and an acerbic political satire. The Carnivorous Lamb, originally written in French, won the Prix Hermes, and this, its 1984 English translation, was widely acclaimed. This edition includes a new introduction by Sharon G. Feldman, professor of Spanish literature and is the author of Allegories of Dissent: The Theater of Agustin Gomez-Arcos, as well as an appendix of supplementary materials.