Vinny's Wilderness opens with a divorced teacher returning to her home
in south Belfast, where she discovers that her dearly loved, overgrown
garden has been bulldozed and unceremoniously dumped in a skip outside
her house. What follows are her vivid memories of the previous four
months, when she tutored Denzil, a lively, personable young boy.
More interested in the outdoors than engaging in the learning essential
to successfully pass the 'eleven-plus' exams required to get him into
second-level education, Denzil struggles against the constraints and
expectations within his rigid family home. As he begins to emerge from
his shell, playing with Vinny's daughter in their chaotic garden, Vinny
and Denzil's mother discover a shared past, and tentatively pick up
their friendship after a split during their own time working towards the
eleven-plus exams.
Vinny's Wilderness is a sensitive rendering of childhood friendship,
tinged with nostalgia viewed through the emotional intensity of studying
for your first major exam. Reminiscent of the Neapolitan Novels by Elena
Ferrante, it illustrates how friendship can survive adolescence and in
adulthood evolve into the support needed to change your life and become
your true self.
