Backstories

By: Simon Van der Velde

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Paperback | 23 July 2021

At a Glance

Paperback
120 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.84 x 12.85 x 0.71

Paperback

$36.06

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Can you find the famous person hidden in every story? And once found, can you relate to their struggles?

'Ingenious idea, brilliantly executed.' (Daily Mirror)

Backstories - 'the stand-out most original book of the year' - is a collection of stories each told from the point of view of one of my personal heroes, (or villains) back when they were just another Jew or black, or queer - back when they were nobody. Bullied, assaulted or psychologically abused, their road to redemption was never easy, and for some there would be no redemption, only a descent into evil.

These are the stories of people you know. The settings are mostly 60's and 70's UK and USA, the driving themes are inclusion and social justice - but the real key to these stories is that I withhold the protagonists' identities. This means that your job is to find them - leading to that Eureka moment when you realise who's mind you've been inhabiting for the last twenty minutes.

I should also add that this is a book that operates on two levels. Yes, there's the game of identifying the mystery activist or actor, singer or murderer, but there is then the more serious business of trying to understand them. This in turn leads to the challenge of overlaying what you now know about these famous people onto what you thought you knew - not to mention the inherent challenge to your moral compass.

These are people you know, but not as you know them. Peel back the mask and see.

This book is dedicated to the victims of violent crime, the struggle against discrimination in all its forms and making the world a better place for our children. That is why 30% of all profits will be shared between Stop Hate UK, The North East Autism Society and Friends of the Earth.

Backstories is published by Smoke & Mirrors Press.

Industry Reviews

'Unique, astonishing and magical, Backstories is the most entertaining book I have ever read.' (The Book Magnet)

'Ingenious idea, brilliantly executed.' (Daily Mirror)

'Backstories is a thrilling and at times shocking read that bravely addresses the fundamental questions of human identity.' (Dr Sara Northey, Director Forensic Psychology, Sussex)

'Truly unique. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it.' (Echoes in an Empty Room)

'Humanity shimmers at the heart of every tale...and it is this that resonates, long after each mystery has been solved.' (Caroline Ward Vine, winner of the Costa Prize)

'Tightly written, technically accomplished, light-footed, wryly ironic and genuinely affecting. Excellent stuff.' (Professor Graham Mort, Director of The Centre for Transcultural Writing and Research)

'Absorbing and thought-provoking, Backstories called out irresistibly to my competitive spirit.' (The Book's Whiskers)

'Uniquely complex, short, smart, stimulus for the mind!' (Brewtiful Fiction)

'I felt like I was playing a delightful game of charades with the author.' (B for Book Review)

'A creative, thought-provoking read.' (Featz Reviews)

'Elegant and frequently raw, Backstories thrums with life and meaning.' (Linda's Book Bag)

'Each story...builds a picture of the famous and infamous for you to guess. A stroke of genius!' (Books from Dusk till Dawn)

'Brilliant...felt like I was taking part in a detective game.' (Helen Kilgannon)

'Van Der Velde masterfully explores the unfamiliar pasts of familiar figures.' (Notable Novels)

'Some surprising and thought-provoking takes on...the early lives of the famous and notorious.' (Kathleen Kenny, author of The Satellites of Jupiter)

'An intimate look...into snapshots of people's lives.' (Bookmarks and Stages)

'An engaging, compelling, and completely unusual book...The mysteriousness captivated me.' (Whispering Stories)

'Backstories is the thinking woman's masked singer. Sitting scribbling notes and shouting out names to myself, thinking I'm Jessica Fletcher.' (Sarah Faichney)

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