Guest Blog - Louisa Bello

Where The Shadows End, my debut novel, focuses on a key few days in the life of it's main protagonist, Sam. 

Sam has an array of friends, foes and voices who accompany him through life, and one of them, Boat Woman, encourages him to confront his truth, his identity and his family's history. This leads Sam on a journey of discovery through which, one by one, his safe spaces are no longer safe, his friends no longer feel like friends, and finally, he is forced by the very same figures in his life, some only known to Sam, to confront his guilt over the death of his mother.

From the day Sam first appeared on my Moleskine notebook page during the short story module of my creative writing degree (thank you, Jonathan Kemp), traumatised by his upbringing, struggling with his identity, through all the versions of him and the voices he hears, Sam has been my hero. 

Sam is a character who has been with me, in my psyche, my heart, in every thought, every dream for over ten years. He's a part of my family. Isn't that a strange thing to say? It feels strange to write the words, but it's true nonetheless. Sam represents human beings in life who are othered, labelled, targeted, demonised; vulnerable, special humans who deserve empathy rather than reproach or stigmatisation. He inspires us to search for a better, more humane, interesting and even more intellectually thoughtful way forward to drive society away from the stigma around voice hearers, diagnosed or undiagnosed, towards listening, open-mindedness, and courage in action.

As I worked on the novel, an array of wonderful characters began to appear, in my Master's workshops, or during Lockdown loneliness, in the darkness of life trauma, in the light of happiness, through break times, breakups, stolen moments, car journeys, train journeys, and early morning balconies overlooking Grecian beaches. I never felt alone. I felt courageous and determined. Sam stayed with me, allowing me to tease out his story onto the page for your reading pleasure, right up to the moment of publication. We celebrated this with a wonderful launch event at Afrori Books, a place where we come not only to purchase the greatest books of our time (I just got all of James Baldwin's essays and novellas there!)  but also to be entertained and informed at exciting literary events, or just to simply bask in the warmth of a Bains family smile!

I feel like Sam is where he is meant to be now - out in the world with you all, and I really hope you love him as much as I do because of his imperfections, because of his humanity.

Thank you so much for buying Where The Shadows End, and thank you even more for reading it!

Love Lou X