My inspiration for writing, Stolen
The inspiration for my new novel, Stolen, came from ideas centred around the increasing level of disturbing behaviour teenage girls face in our society. Their everyday lives seem harder to navigate than when I was that age.
Jess is seventeen and regularly babysits her next-door neighbour’s children, Alfie aged 12 (soon to be 13) and his younger sister, Bella. Jess’s mum is good friends with their mum, Vicki, but when Jess’s school bullies turn up at the door, it becomes impossible for Jess to keep the children safe.
I wanted to tell the story from Jess and Vicki’s points of view, so we see two perspectives – a teenage girl and the mother of a teenage boy. Vicki is separated from her husband Lee and has stopped all contact with their children until he kicks his drug habit.
I explore Lee’s side of the split too and his role as a dad, drawing on my own experience of being a young mum when my ex-husband wanted to fight for custody of our son. It was a difficult time, but we were able to come to an amicable arrangement that benefitted us and our child (who is now in his 30s!). I hope my empathy and understanding of Lee’s situation comes across. My own dad stayed at home to look after me and my brother so my mum could pursue her career, which was unusual in the 1970s. He was the only dad at the school gates, and I admire him for doing that.
While I was writing and creating Stolen, the highly acclaimed drama, Adolescence was airing. I personally didn’t feel I could watch it as it felt too close to home, but I heard enough about it in the media to know how it played out.
At the same time, my own teenage daughter was telling me about misogynistic comments made by boys in her year at school, who were watching and copying Andrew Tate, the self-proclaimed misogynist influencer. One quiet boy who had been her friend suddenly started bullying her and spouting misogynistic hate towards her. Even a male teacher in her year called all the girls into the school hall to warn them that if they wore short skirts and make-up, they were “asking for it”. (No such warning was aimed at boys to teach them how to control themselves.)
It’s a worrying time for all our young people and for us as parents and carers, but I think fiction and TV dramas help to make sense of our unstable world and show that there are more good people in it than bad.
I hope you enjoy reading Stolen.
Best wishes,
Ruby x
Pick up your copy of Stolen here: https://mybook.to/StolenBook