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Review: Boy With Wings by Mark Mustian

Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Mark Mustian to Ruins & Reading. I'm reviewing his new novel, Boy With Wings. It's a fascinating tale about being different – and what that means. Read on!

Boy With Wings is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find other interesting tour stops HERE!

 

 
 
Boy with Wings

Mark Mustian

Well, this was one compelling, thought-provoking book to read! Let me explain...
 
Starting in the mid-1920s, Boy With Wings is the story of young Johnny Cruel, a boy born with a deformed back. As a child, the little lumps hardly resemble anything, but as he grows up, the deformation grows into a fine pair of wings. 
 
Johnny lives with his mother, Lena, who keeps quiet about his father. Lena hides him in a closed wooden box when she's out of the house. Locked away, the boy begins to talk to imaginary friends, and wonders why he is not allowed to play with other children. But his mother takes suspicions by members of their community, including a priest, of him being a child of Satan, seriously. So she, and her on/off partner, Paul, build the box to keep the boy from prying eyes, pretending to the world that he has died. 
 
But word gets out, and after a scary visit from a one-armed stranger, Lena, now wracked by consumption, plans their getaway. Yet they are booted off the train due to her her constant coughing, and left to wander the country roads by themselves.
 
When Josephus, a black worker from a nearby tree workers' camp, picks them up, he takes them back to the camp, where they're placed into a barn. But during the night, Lena dies, and young Johnny, at barely 7 years of age, is left alone.
 
Reluctantly, mostly through the insistence of Josephus and Mama Lo, the community allows him – a pale, white child – to stay. Johnny forms a brotherly bond with Elias, who's of similar age to him, and the boys become close, almost like brothers. 
 
But as Johnny is spotted amongst the black community workers, the local sheriff arrives and takes him away. Intrigued by the growth on the boy's back, he hands the terrified lad to two male acquaintances.
 
The next few years are a blur, as the author hints at Johnny suffering abuse of every kind by his new owners and their associates. Thankfully for the reader, Mustian doesn't go into any detail. But instead, the plot fasts forward by several years – to the whirlwind arrival of Tiny Tot! And Johnny's life changes irrevocably.
 
Tiny Tot, named thus due to her small stature, is a tough cookie. She runs a curiosities circus, touring the southern states each year. Johnny is the new star – a Boy with Wings! Initially scared that people would touch him again (those scenes hint at the extent of his abuse), he soon settles into a routine as the new star, as any attempts by customers to get near him are thwarted by Carl, the big bouncer.
 
As years go by, he falls for Tot's daughter, Winifred. Over time, they form a tentative bond, but one night, a fire in the camp destroys his way of life completely. As he moves from town to town, doing odd jobs, keeping his growing wings firmly tied to his back, he is on a search for his father – and an unexpected twist sends him in the right direction.
 
But will his father acknowledge him? What happened to Winifred? And will Johnny be able to lead a 'normal’ life, with his wings? Well, I recommend you read this novel to find out!
 
 
 
Boy With Wings is an utterly compelling read. It tugs at your heartstrings and makes you rage simultaneously. The treatment Johnny receives, especially as a child, is cruel and vicious. And the few people who treat him like a 'normal’ human being are – with very few exceptions – fellow 'freaks’ at Tot's curiosity show.
 
Johnny is an interesting character. He has to grow up fast, and with the memories of what he endured. As he grows up, the boy develops a temper, and who can blame him? 'Normal’ people clearly don't have his issues. (Or perhaps some do, and it just isn't obvious.) His growing wings are heavy, and his back and neck hurt, especially when he has to bind them. He always has to watch out, as people he meets take advantage.
 
But Johnny is a keen reader, devouring books and newspapers alike, and with his high intelligence, he finds ways of dealing with the many situations he finds himself in. 
 
The overall theme of the novel is about what 'being different' means, and with it, it begs the question: what is 'normal'? Are those customers who gawp at Johnny's wings normal? Are the men who abuse him normal? Is the priest, who calls him a devil, normal? Is projecting superstitions and fear on other people normal?
 
Many self-proclaimed ’normal’ people – to this day – point out differences in others. In extreme cases, those 'others’ are verbally and physically attacked, with the attacker feeling entitled to do this. It's easy to discriminate. Is that normal? If so, it's actually scary to be normal.
 
Boy With Wings makes you think about differences, and evaluate your own reaction to people who are different, in some way or other. Discrimination still exists, every day, in many places. With it, the assumption that some people are above others in station. As long as that's the case, humanity will not move on. We need to evolve further...
 
Boy With Wings is not an easy read, but if you appreciate a thought-provoking, intelligent plot, with a compelling narrative voice, and an exceptional protagonist, look no further! Here is a novel that will make you question the status quo, and it will stay with you for a long time. 
 
Highly recommended.
 ~~~


Blurb:

 

*Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2025 First Place Winner*


What does it mean to be different?


When Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back in the 1930s South, the locals think he's a devil. Determined to protect him, his mother fakes his death, and they flee. Thus begins Johnny's yearslong struggle to find a place he belongs.


From a turpentine camp of former slaves to a freak show run by a dwarf who calls herself Tiny Tot and on to the Florida capitol building, Johnny finds himself working alongside other outcasts, struggling to answer the question of his existence. Is he a horror, a wonder, or an angel? Should he hide himself to live his life? 


Following Johnny's journey through love, betrayal, heartbreak, and several murders, Boy With Wings is a story of the sacrifices and freedom inherent in making one's own special way-and of love and the miracles that give our lives meaning.


Praise for Boy with Wings:


'A brilliant fever dream of a novel, a haunting coming of age story reminiscent of both Franz Kafka and Charles Dickens.'

~ Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Jackal's Mistress




~~~

About the Author: 
 
Mark Mustian is the author of the novels "The Return" and "The Gendarme", the latter a finalist for the Dayton International Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the Saroyan International Award for Writing. It won the Florida Gold Book Award for Fiction and has been published in ten languages.
 
 

The founder of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida, his new novel, "Boy With Wings", is out in 2025.
 
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