Stratford author draws on personal wisdom for new novel
Author Michelle Lowe pictured outside Theatre Royal Stratford East with her second book Broken Roots. Picture: Melissa Page - Credit: Melissa Page
A author making waves on both sides of the pond will be meeting some of her readers when she launches her new novel.
Michelle Diana Lowe, who writes new adult fiction, will be reading extracts from Broken Roots at its official launch in Hackney on Saturday, December 3.
The 33-year-old’s second story focuses on 16-year-old Teisha Cole whose life is turned upside down after family secrets are unravelled in the wake of her father’s multi-million pound invention.
Michelle, a children’s centre administrator, says her African-Caribbean teenage heroine is forced to leave home and spend time on the streets before ending up in foster care.
The story is a result of Michelle having “seen quite a few children who have been in the foster system”.
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“I really wanted to represent their stories,” she said.
“It’s not your average foster care story. I wanted to show how young people going into foster care homes can experience mental health problems.”
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Newham-raised Michelle said “delving into young people’s psyches and dealing with mental health issues” is an interest of hers and was most definitely inspired by her childhood.
“I did experience depression and very severe bullying at primary school. That definitely did have an impact on me,” she said. “I really want to raise awareness of these issues.”
Michelle has already enjoyed success in America and in the UK with audiences of all ages since she started writing professionally in 2015.
She says she featured in a Top 100 Amazon bestselling list for urban fiction writers for first novel UnShatter Me, which also made her a nominee for the Summer Indie Book Award 2016 in the category of New Adult Fiction.
She is also the first British woman to be published by Finnish publisher Creativia.
“I feel very proud and that I have achieved something,” she said.
Michelle describes her writing as poetic and powerful adding that her characters are very “relatable”.
“My publisher says I have something to say,” she said, citing NW author Zadie Smith as an inspiration. She now hopes to read her books to children at schools.
Broken Roots is available to buy from Amazon, £10.99. Book launch/signing at 2.30pm-3.30pm, December 3, Hackney Central Library, ages 14+
