Here it is – the cover of my debut novel, The Madness of the Faithful, which will be released with Matador Books on 28th July; you can pre-order it now from here.
I started writing this book in 2014 while living in Manchester, England. Along the way, I got sidetracked by life – becoming a father (twice), travelling a great deal with work, changing jobs, and relocating to Singapore in 2017. At the end of 2019, my new year’s resolution was to finish the manuscript the following year. Little did I know that global events would enable me to meet my objectives this time. With the help of lockdowns and travel restrictions, the manuscript was completed in 2020; it was then reviewed, revised, edited, and finalized over the course of 2021.
I’m very pleased with the cover. The designers developed it based on an image I sourced. I feel it really captures the mood of the story; it provides a strong connection to one particular scene, which also represents a motif that repeats throughout.
Seeing the cover and releasing it to the world is exciting, although a little strange. It’s a small step towards revealing something that I’ve kept to myself for a long time. Yes, the story took a while to write, but the core idea has been with me for a lot longer. It stems from my life growing up in rural Wales. For much of that time, I lived in a Methodist Chapel house. My father was a lay preacher, and faith was all around in our household. Rather than be indoctrinated, I somehow ended up on another path, realizing from an early age that I was an atheist.
Despite my own perspective, I have always tried to respect other people’s beliefs (so long as they don’t force their views or practices onto others). In fact, religion has been a source of fascination – specifically, its role in providing purpose and meaning to the lives of those who depend upon it. I’ve often wondered how integral faith is to their being and self, and what would happen if it was taken away from them. Would it be like taking a drug away from an addict? Or would the impact be even more severe – like knocking down a load-bearing wall inside a house?
The premise of my debut novel is to suppose what might happen if faith was removed from the world. Specifically, how would it affect those that needed it most in their lives? How would they cope? How would their view of existence change?
If you’re interested in how the story plays out, you can pre-order your copy today and find out for yourself on July 28th.
