Blackguard

In the opening of this introspective novel, a seventeen‑year‑old Carl Felman steps off a night train into a restless Midwestern city, his mind a blur of exhaustion, doubt, and quiet yearning. The narrative paints his inner life with vivid detail, tracing the way his poetry—born of schoolyard mockery and parental expectation—has become both a refuge and a source of tension. As he wanders the station, the reader feels the weight of his “two masks,” the fragile hope of an aspiring poet and the harsh reality of a family that sees artistic dreams as a sideline.

The story then pulls back to Carl’s adolescence, revealing a home where his parents hover between pride and fear, urging him toward conventional success while his own imagination pushes against those boundaries. Through subtle, lyrical prose, the book explores the universal struggle of youthful ambition versus practical survival, setting the stage for a deeper conflict that will test his convictions and shape his future.