I started this project as a NaNoWriMo back in 2018.
It was my first time stab at writing a full length novel since finishing A Hole in the Universe, which had left me with a bit of a "hole" in my heart from the absence (terrible joke, I know), but it also was a bit bittersweet, because for some reason it called to me.
I have always struggled with parental acceptance, and regardless of the fact that I know the two I have love me in their own ways, the weight I placed on myself to meet their expectation was immense. It wasn't until I got older (much older, as it turns out), that I really came to the realization that they, too, are human and make mistakes. They struggle and fail and eventually pick themselves back up and move on, and I know I can do that now because of the role model I had in my mom.
This story is a product of that struggle, and there are places that need severe revision, but I hope you love this in the way that we cherish a precious stone in it's raw form. This project was a way for me to grapple with my own struggle--to accept the new reality that my own parents are fallible and that I needed to do the work of accepting them for who they are as well. And although there seems to be a clear antagonist, I urge you to look just a little bit closer.
You may just see something new from a different perspective.
YOU ARE READING
Dear Esther
General FictionHow do you let go of someone if you never got the chance to say goodbye? Home is supposedly where the heart is, but Eliza Anderson begs to differ. --- After her partner passes, she tries to make sense of the world. Eliza writes letters to herself...
