Congratulations to Sophie Kersey on the publication of her first novel, Unspeakable Things. It’s a pleasure when I have the chance to introduce a new author to readers. Before you read her post, you might want to see the book trailer for her debut novel.
Thank you, Sophie, for taking time to write a guest blog post.
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Family Secrets
Family secrets fascinate me – they are at
the heart of my writing.
the heart of my writing.
Families conceal things, or don’t mention
them; things that peek out from often-told stories but are never questioned.
Like all writers, I’m a magpie and I grasp these treasures whenever I find them.
them; things that peek out from often-told stories but are never questioned.
Like all writers, I’m a magpie and I grasp these treasures whenever I find them.
Secrets can be mundane: a birth certificate
revealing that a parent has lied about their age, or even
revealing that a parent has lied about their age, or even
their birthday. I
have also read of people discovering their parents were spies. One man found
out that his father had been a Nazi. Other secrets can be devastating: I know
someone who was in her thirties when she found out that her Dad, now dead, was
not her real father. It came out through a casual comment from an in-law at a
family party; and everyone knew except her.
Families are different from other groups.
They’re home to our dearest loves and deepest resentments – and yet they need
to operate on an everyday level. Everyone needs to be fed, clothed and sent off
to school or work; and to rest, mooch around together and sleep.
They’re home to our dearest loves and deepest resentments – and yet they need
to operate on an everyday level. Everyone needs to be fed, clothed and sent off
to school or work; and to rest, mooch around together and sleep.
We are not our outward-facing selves in our
families. They see us grumpy or distracted, picking our noses, grunting
responses: the real people who emerge when we’ve shut the door on the outside
world.
families. They see us grumpy or distracted, picking our noses, grunting
responses: the real people who emerge when we’ve shut the door on the outside
world.
Things go unsaid in families, both good and
bad. I read an article by a man who decided not to save a eulogy for his
father’s funeral, but to tell him his feelings for him while he was alive. He
did so. It was awkward. He wasn’t sure if he regretted it or not.
bad. I read an article by a man who decided not to save a eulogy for his
father’s funeral, but to tell him his feelings for him while he was alive. He
did so. It was awkward. He wasn’t sure if he regretted it or not.
There is a reason we don’t do these things.
Huge feelings and shocking revelations might threaten the everyday functioning
that makes up family life. If someone says something profound at a family
gathering, we often shrug or squirm with discomfort.
Huge feelings and shocking revelations might threaten the everyday functioning
that makes up family life. If someone says something profound at a family
gathering, we often shrug or squirm with discomfort.
In Unspeakable
Things my heroine, Sarah, knows nothing about her mother, who died when she
was four. Pregnant and newly inquisitive, she visits the abandoned family home
with her husband, who asks why her father moved them away.
Things my heroine, Sarah, knows nothing about her mother, who died when she
was four. Pregnant and newly inquisitive, she visits the abandoned family home
with her husband, who asks why her father moved them away.
‘I don’t know. He didn’t say.’ Dad had not
talked about any of it. She didn’t even remember looking at old photographs
with him, and wondered now why they had never pestered him about their dead
mother, their abandoned first home. But during his life it had seemed
unthinkable. Did they hesitate to test that resolute strength of his, in case
it crumpled?
talked about any of it. She didn’t even remember looking at old photographs
with him, and wondered now why they had never pestered him about their dead
mother, their abandoned first home. But during his life it had seemed
unthinkable. Did they hesitate to test that resolute strength of his, in case
it crumpled?
There are terrible things in families, and as a writer of dark fiction, I dig them out. Secrets concealed, and secrets discovered form the darkness behind the suspense.
But there are wonderful things in families too – things we don’t talk about either. My second novel, The Year of the Ghost, delves into secrets and lies, but it’s a love song to family as well.
*****
Sophie Kersey’s website is https://sophiekerseyauthor.com
Unspeakable Things is available through Amazon, and there is a Kindle edition. http://amzn.to/2FeA6l0
This book looks like one I'd like for sure. Congrats on your new book, Sophie. I'm off to see about getting it.
Many thanks, Kay! I hope you enjoy it.