Take Me Home is
the story of a young woman who, after a trauma, stops speaking altogether. Although
it took me a relatively short time to write this novel – nine months – the
story has been growing inside me for a long time. I’ve always been fascinated
by the idea of not speaking, of letting yourself be sheltered by silence.
As a teenager, I read Kilmeny
of the Orchard by Lucy M. Montgomery (the author of Anne of Green Gables) about a girl who, for some mysterious reason,
can’t speak, so she expresses herself through writing in a notebook she carries
around her neck. I very much saw myself in Kilmeny back then, because so much
of what I wanted to say could only be conveyed by writing – so I found the idea
of a girl who can’t speak, but instead writes, spellbinding.
The catalyst for Inary’s silence is her sister’s death – her
grief is such that her feelings can’t be expressed with words, and her
overwhelming emotions somehow choke her. As she loses her voice, she finds that
silence changes her from the inside. Because she now has to write everything
she wants to express, she can’t blurt out things any longer – they need to be
filtered by the medium of writing, they need more time and effort to be said.
Therefore she begins to say less and think more, to shave off layers of herself
until she gets to her core. She begins to understand herself more, and realise
what she really wants and needs from life. The deepest, most secret part of her
– her Sight, the ability to see the dead and listen to their stories – springs
back to life after years of dormancy. As she sinks into silence, people long
gone begin speaking to her, and she’s able to listen and, in turn, tell their
stories through her writing.
Inary’s journey to me is a metaphor of the writing process,
of the necessity of silence to focus on the stories inside our minds – but in
her case it’s also a journey through grief. The trauma of her sister’s death is
such that she has to work through her pain and bewilderment in a way that’s
almost physical – before she can find herself again. Having had two major
bereavements in my life, I found it very hard, almost heartbreaking, to let
myself remember those feelings so I could describe Inary’s. However, it was
certainly cathartic to write the ending… but I won’t spoil it for you!
If you have any thoughts about this post I wrote, or about Take Me Home, or if you feel like a
natter, do come and find me - @danisacerdoti. Thank you for having me!
Dani
Paperback publishing 10th April 2014
Inary Monteith’s life is at a crossroads. After a
stolen night with her close friend Alex, she’s just broken his heart by telling
him it was all a terrible mistake. Then she has to rush home from London to the
Scottish Highlands when her little sister’s illness suddenly worsens – and in
returning she must confront the painful memories she has been trying so hard to
escape.
Back home, things become more complicated than she
could ever have imagined. There’s her sister’s illness, her hostile brother, a
smug ex she never wants to see again and her conflicted feelings about Alex in
London and a handsome American she meets in Glen Avich. On top of that, she
mysteriously loses her voice but regains a strange gift from her childhood – a
sixth sense that runs in her family. And when a voice from the past keeps
repeating, ‘Take me home’, she discovers a mystery that she knows she must unlock
to set herself free.
Take Me Home is a beautiful story of love, loss, discovering
one’s true abilities and, above all, never forgetting who you really are.
About the Author
Daniela Sacerdoti is a mother and a writer. Born in Naples, but brought up
in a small village in the Italian Alps, she lives near Glasgow with her husband
and sons. She calls herself a thief of time – she steals time to write when
everyone has gone to bed, or before they wake up. She’s a Primary teacher, but
she chose to be at home with her children. She loves being with her boys, doing
art with them, reading anything she can get her hands on and chatting with her
girlfriends. But she also adores being on her own, free to daydream and make up
stories.
You can find out
more about Daniela Sacerdoti on her website. You can also tweet (@danisacerdoti) with her and
find her on Facebook.
The overall
giveaway is a paperback copy of Take Me
Home. Open Internationally.
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Thank you for hosting a guest post Rachel.
ReplyDeleteShaz