About the Book
In The Boy who Loved Trees, award-winning multi-genre author M.M. De Voe crafts a sweeping and lyrical novel set against the stark backdrop of Soviet-occupied Lithuania in 1985.
When Artie Avilis joins a KGB-funded cultural tour to the land of his ancestors, he’s not just crossing borders—he’s crossing the lines of nationality, religion, sexuality, and loyalty. Haunted by questions he can’t yet voice—What kind of man am I? Can I ever truly belong?—Artie embarks on a deeply personal journey in a world that demands conformity and punishes truth. This tender love letter to the queer men of the 1980s, many of whom were forced to hide their identities until society shifted a decade later, is both intimate and expansive, weaving themes of history, politics, and desire into an
unforgettable tapestry.
Perfect for fans of literary fiction with queer themes, Cold War intrigue, and soul-searching journeys of self-discovery, The Boy who Loves Trees is a powerful exploration of what it means to live authentically—when everything around you insists you can’t.
about THE AUTHOR
M. M. De Voe is a prize-winning author whose short fiction has been widely published in multiple genres. Anthologized alongside Joyce Carol Oates and Margaret Atwood; nominated for three Pushcart Prizes; loves Scrabble, puzzles, and juggling. Her novel manuscript was a finalist for the Bellwether Prize and won a grant from the Arch & Bruce Brown Foundation for Gay-Positive Historical Fiction. MFA in Creative Writing: Fiction from Columbia University where she was a Writing Fellow. Founder and Executive Director of Pen Parentis; for her individual work with this literary nonprofit, she won four consecutive Manhattan Community Arts Funds Grants. Two kids, some fish and an urban rabbit; all living in lower Manhattan.