The Lessons: The True Story of a Parasitic Novel

The following story is true.

This book is about my novel, The Lessons.

Strictly speaking, it is not a novel at all, but something far more sinister. The dictionary lacks a word for what The Lessons actually is.

At the age of nineteen, I made the momentous decision to pen this novel – on April 24 1985, to be precise. I know this because I kept a diary between 1977 and 1988. As soon as I began, an illness cut me down for a week. I thought nothing of it, determined I was going to begin this novel as soon as I felt better. Little did I realise how this novel would affect my life.

I kept it secret from family and friends. I feverishly read books on how-to write novels, sitting in my flat for hours, eking out a few sentences. During episodes, I would lose weight and become ill.

My novel appeared to have no bearing upon my life at all. A psychopath operates in a creepy old house called the Hollows and heads a criminal ring. I was living in a sleepy village with my parents and siblings. I partook in kiddie stuff like babysitting, toy-making, Sunday school teaching and art.

During my writing, I connected with this ‘strand’. This strand grew addictive. It ran deep, powerful, compulsive, shameful, deathly, depressing, creepy and devastating.
Little did I realize the source of this strand.

Illustrations and excerpts from my diaries are included.