IF the troubled teenaged boy pictured in the bedroom of his Bolton semi in the 1980s sitting by a poster of his icon, Madonna, had any idea that one day the megastar would know he existed, adolescence would have been a lot easier.

But then again, it is only the struggles that Matt Cain endured during his formative years that have helped make him the man he is today.

Matt, 43, who now lives in London, has had a stellar media career. It has included being an executive producer on The South Bank Show, becoming Channel 4’s first Culture Editor and, latterly, working as editor-in-chief of Attitude, the UK's biggest-selling magazine for gay men.

Now a full-time author with a string of hit novels to his name, Madonna has become a very real feature in Matt’s life thanks to his new novel.

The Madonna of Bolton, which is published on July 12 by Unbound, is an entertaining and thought-provoking novel about a gay boy growing up in Bolton in the 1980s who is desperate to escape.

It’s a long way from Bolton to Hollywood but the book has not only gained the approval of Madonna, she has also given her permission for a major motion picture to be made of it!

“It’s exciting and humbling,” said Matt during a recent visit to his parents’ home in Turton.

“I sometimes think back to the young boy in the photograph who had no idea of the life he could lead.

“I had no idea I could be so happy, accepted and celebrated. I had no idea I could turn the feelings and emotions and experiences from the lowest point in my life into my greatest triumph and that it would define me.

“I’d love it if there had been some way for that boy to know what was going to happen because it would give him the strength, it would make it easier for him to get through rough times. But it’s going through rough times that makes you stronger. Maybe this is how it was meant to happen.

“Sometimes, people regard those who move out of their home town as disloyal. For me, it was simply the case that Bolton wasn’t right for me in my 20s and early 30s, and now it is. I’m back every month.

“I don’t want people to think the book is critical of Bolton. It’s about one man’s long, complex and challenging relationship with his home town and how it changes, and how he falls back in love with it.

“Bolton’s changed. In the 80s, I never, ever thought it would hold its own Pride festival and that I’d be delivering a speech at it,” said Matt, who was born in Bury and raised in Bolton.

“Like Charlie in the book, and me, people with similar experiences tend to experience a reconciliation with their home town. You fall back in love with it and you think, ‘Its’ not perfect but there are things that are great about it and it will always be a part of me anyway’.

“Charlie realises that even if he didn’t like his home town when he was growing up, and he became the person he was as a reaction against it, it’s always going to be a part of him and he wouldn’t be the person he is today if he hadn’t been through all that.

“But he also realises that things have changed. When people didn’t like gays during the HIV/AIDS crisis, he realised that it was like that everywhere in Britain in the 80s and now it’s much more accepting and he can fit in there.”

This mirror’s Matt’s own feelings and experiences and the autobiographical parallels woven into the novel give it an added authenticity.

“I think if you’re a bit different, or creative, or gay, or very intelligent, a lot of people feel like they don’t fit in in a smaller town, and they want to escape and get out.

“It was the standard gay experience that if you were gay you basically grew up and you had to get out. You had to leave your small town and go to a big city. You had to sacrifice your family relationships in order to find your tribe.”

Again, like Charlie in the book, Matt experienced horrific homophobic bullying at school and he felt that he was an outsider in his home town.

Similarly, Matt, like Charlie, found an escape route in education. He studied French and Spanish at Cambridge before moving to London.

The most autobiographical chapter of the book sees Charlie travelling to Leeds to see one of Madonna’s first UK concerts.

“I’ve always loved Madonna. She was a life line for me when I was growing up. She was like a spirit guide, she helped me through a tough time,” said Matt.

“Seeing her in concert at Leeds, aged 12, completely changed my life. It was like a spiritual pilgrimage.

“I suddenly thought this goddess who I’ve worshipped at home is suddenly there in front of me, she actually exists. She was all about self- expression, following your dream, independence, strength. I just felt so inspired to go and do what I wanted to do. I wanted some of that destiny. I wanted to be the best version of me.”

He had the idea of using Madonna in a novel while filming a documentary in Buenos Aires.

“It was 10 years after Madonna made Evita there but people were still talking about her.

“I got to thinking how Madonna had always been there whatever I’ve done in life. This got me thinking about the power of popular culture, and music in particular. It has such an effect on peoples’ lives, particularly in the teenage period, or any period in life when people are having difficulties.

“So many people have a strong emotional connection with the music they grew up listening to, when they felt no-one else understood them, the world was against them and they didn’t fit in. It was like that artist was the only person who understood them, and that’s the story I wanted to tell.

“We used to have saints and gods and now we have pop culture icons. That’s something I wanted to explore and acknowledge. Calling the book The Madonna of Bolton is a way of drawing attention to this. The title sounds like it has religious significance and each chapter is named after a song, which makes it almost like a prayer book.”

But that’s not to say the novel will only appeal to Madonna fans. In many ways, she is simply a vehicle, Readers could just as easily empathise with Charlie, and engage with the novel by substituting Madonna with a personal icon who featured heavily in their adolescence, be it a footballer, an actor or a different singer.

In fact, Madonna plays second fiddle to Bolton in the story.

“The book was originally going to be called Madonna and Me but as I was rewriting and getting more life experience that I was feeding into the book, it struck me that the town of Bolton was more of a leading character and Charlie’s relationship with Bolton – and his eventual reconciliation with his home town - was the central drama of the story.”

Local readers will particularly enjoy recognising the shops and pubs – many now gone – of 1980s Bolton that Matt fondly namechecks in the novel, along with the local vernacular (“doss”, “ace”, “cock of the school” and “stiff” all make an appearance). The Bolton Evening News even gets a mention!

And although there is a hugely enjoyable camp element, it’s also a deeply affecting Picaresque journey with some important messages. But, most of all, due to Matt’s lightness of touch, it’s a highly readable book.

He began writing the book in 2006 and early versions were rejected by more than 30 publishers.

He was told it was too “niche” so, in between redrafting it, he wrote two more mainstream novels which were met with acclaim.

A crowdfunding campaign, with contributions from the likes of David Walliams and Mark Gatiss, helped get the book published and now Matt is excited to see the reaction.

The Madonna of Bolton ends in 2009 and Matt plans to write a sequel and a prequel, which will also be set in Bolton.

In the meantime he is looking forward to signing copies of his book at Bolton’s Waterstones on July 12. The next day he will be at Waterstones’ Manchester store in Deansgate where he will be giving a talk and answering questions about the book.

Following two meetings in LA with Live Nation – the biggest entertainment company in the world – contracts have been signed and the film rights for The Madonna of Bolton have been sold.

Thrillingly for Matt, Madonna herself was made aware of the project and has given it her blessing.

It could mean that it won’t be too long before Hollywood comes to Bolton as Matt is keen that the film is made on location.

“More than anything, more than getting to meet Madonna, the thing that will make me happiest would be if the people of Bolton fall in love with this book,” he said.

“It would be the ultimate happy ending."