Debut Novel

May

The door to the past has been locked to May but fragments of memories still remain: a boy running on the green, his fiery hair, a letter without a stamp, a secret she promised not to tell. She can’t piece together the past or even make sense of the present, but she revisits what she knows again and again. The boy, the letter, the secret. She can’t grasp what they mean, but maybe the people she’s loved and lost can uncover the mystery of the red-headed boy and his connection to May.

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Like memories, the book moves through the decades, weaving together the lives of May’s family and the woman who cares for her at the nursing home. Their recollections are linked by feelings of doubt, remorse and a sense that they are mourning the paths their lives could have taken. Aftershocks from the past reverberate in the present.

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Naomi Kruger’s debut novel is a contemplative tale of what it means to carry the past with you and the power of letting it go.

'A rewarding read: an ambitious novel that speaks to our times.' – Wales Arts Review

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'A triumph... contemporary, funny, relevant and personal.' – Buzz Magazine

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'A deftly-written and highly moving account of the effects of dementia.' – Everybody's Reviewing

About

I am a writer and academic. My fiction has previously been commissioned by Lancaster Litfest, commended in Aesthetica and published in various literary journals. My first novel manuscript was highly commended in the Yeovil Prize 2014.  

I have an MA and PhD from Lancaster University and currently research representations of cognitive impairment in fiction as well as working on new writing projects. I lecture in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Central Lancashire as well as being one half of North West Literary Arts (facilitating events and community projects).