End of Story by Louise Swanson

I'm not sure how to write this review. This book brought out so many emotions. It made me sad and angry, broke my heart and inspired hope.

It begins in a near future dystopian world where the Government has banned all fiction and storytelling. Fern, an award-winning author (in the past), finds herself working as a cleaner in a hospital and having her income subsidised by the government; now she can no longer write for a living. Contact with other authors is forbidden, only non-fiction reading is permitted, and parents can no longer read bedtime stories to their children. It is a bleak world I would not wish to inhabit.

Fern lives a lonely and sad existence. Her husband is dead, and pursuing any writing has become illegal, with dire consequences for those who break the rules. As we progress through the novel, this becomes evident as we discover what is happening to other authors. Fern joins an underground movement to read stories to children, where she meets Hunter a boy she seems to connect with.

The novel builds more pace, and I found myself rushing back to the page to find out what happens next. What is finally revealed is a heartbreaking conclusion.

However, alongside the topics that made me sad and angry were also elements of hope and kindness that were evident in the weekly meetings Fern has with the Fine Fayre man who delivers tea and biscuits. These parts of the story may seem mundane and ordinary, yet in my opinion, were among the most beautiful - showing Fern's character and what she's going through. They also reminded me that sometimes when we're at rock bottom, a stranger's kindness or wisdom can pick us up and help us through and that often it's in the most ordinary and everyday interactions that this occurs.

This book is an incredible piece of writing that shows what the mind can do to try and protect us, and like Fern states, if you tell a story well enough it's true.

It's a tough read at times, filled with raw emotional writing about love, loss and grief. It's a book I'd be proud to have written. Louise Swanson (aka Louise Beech) has accomplished something profound and beautiful.