Musing Mondays (25th Nov)

This week's musing: Do you know of any local authors in your area, and –if so– have you met any of them?

A few months ago, I was delighted to discover (by chance almost) Brighton-based author Jess Richards. The blurb on the back of her debut novel, Snake Ropes, starts “On an island off the edge of the map...” As soon as I read that, I was utterly enchanted, and this book was all I hoped it would be. It is a stunning novel, beautifully crafted, haunting and very original.

I discovered this book via an advert for an event with Jess Richards entitled "Creating Other Worlds"*, which I eagerly went along to in September. Here, she discussed the process of creating the vivid, believable worlds in which her books are set. It was a joy to listen to her, and I wish I had taken along a notebook and pen to capture more of what she said. Her description of creating characters with their own captivating voices and stories to tell was particularly fascinating. It very much felt as if she was describing the process of getting to know a new friend, learning their unique ways and secrets, rather than inventing a person from scratch. I was really struck by that, I found it beautiful and inspiring.

At this event, I brought her second novel, Cooking with Bones, which is as wildly original and magical as her first. The book starts: “My sister is a formwanderer: she is a mirror of want. Each person she meets sees what they want, when they look at her. And she changes for each pair of eyes.” I found this an intriguing idea, and love the way it is used in the book. This book is very much an exploration of identity, of individual hopes, wants and dreams. Like Snake Ropes it is also full of mystery, a quest for truth told though the eyes of the characters who narrate the book.

I am so pleased to have discovered this wonderful, talented author and very much look forward to her future writing. If you have read her books, I hope you loved them as much as I did. If you haven't, I cannot recommended them more highly. Read them, and be enchanted!

Links:

Goodreads: Snake Ropes and Cooking with Bones

Jess Richards' website

Jess Richards on Twitter 

*Jess Richards' talk was part of City Reads 2013 in Brighton.