Author interview and book reviews
The Extraordinary Hope Of Dawn Brightside, Harpercollins, £12.99
First-time author Jessica Ryn penned her beguiling, hopefilled debut while juggling a Masters’ degree in creative writing with the pressures of being a carer to her husband and a hands-on mother.
The effort landed her a twobook publishing deal. And she had already started the second – out next November – before graduating with a distinction.
It’s easy to see why. The Extraordinary Hope Of Dawn Brightside tackles homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness and the vulnerability that goes with it, with warmth, humour, and most of all courage.
It’s a captivating read following the fortunes of the lovable but awkward Dawn Elizabeth Brightside – a once much adored daughter and devoted mother – who finds herself on the street and alone.
Despite being haunted by her past, her passion for life and the people around her is palpable. Bright by name, and bright by nature and bubbling with optimism, she sets out on a path to save the hostel she comes to call home from closure – with surprising outcomes.
Ryn, 40, who lives in Dover, where the book is set, with husband Patrick and their children Jack, 13, and Emelie, 10, tells PS:“MY husband has a long-term mental health issue and had quite a bad relapse while I was working as a midwife. I had to give up my career to be a carer for him.
“I turned to writing to have an outlet and to get over everything that had happened. One thing led to another and I saw the MA and thought I could do that and be a carer at the same time.”
The former midwife, who has spent years working in charity owned hostels for the homeless, explains:“i wanted the book to be the human story behind the homeless statistics we see in the news. I also wanted to show homelessness is not just about being on the street, but the unsettledness of living in temporary accommodation. It is not a home, people still have a long way to go before they have a home, feel safe and know their home won’t be taken away again.
“I hope it will change the way homeless people are seen and will highlight the need for funding for homeless services which help them with the issues that stop them keeping their home longer-term.”
Dawn Brightside is the driver for that message. Her creator says:“dawn is the only character that has ever come to me as fully-fledged, straight away. I was out of a walk and she just popped into my head. I could see her and hear her.
“She is the epitome of so many people I worked with. Not that they were quite so optimistic, but many of them had been through harrowing things but they still just kept going. It was their resilience that inspired me and the way that they were still there for each other and really put themselves out for each other.”
Ryn – whose has family in Scotland – is in the process of writing her next novel, an uplifting stand-alone about the life of a carer. It will resonate with many.“i used the first 15,000 words for the dissertation of my Masters degree,” she reveals. It’s clearly a good piece of work. She was awarded a distinction.
So is life as a writer all it is cracked-up to be? She laughs:“i used to imagine myself sitting on the beach in a floaty dress, looking out to sea and writing, but it’s more like sitting in between piles of ironing and the kids screaming at me that they want something.”