A childhood fascination with Greek mythology inspires Telford author's new book
Social worker Stephen Anthony Brotherton has turned to Greek mythology for his latest novel, exploring love, loss, and redemption.
“I have had a fascination with Greek mythology since childhood and, in particular, the ways in which these stories provide parallel links to aid a better understanding of modern day lives,” says the author who lives in Telford.
Borrowed Time follows Rico, Mary, and a gangster named Fats who find themselves on the run beyond the veil of death, caught in a deadly game of power and revenge.
Their fates lie in the hands of Octavius and his embittered daughter, Livia, who can never forgive her father for gambling away her mother to the devil, Wrath.
As the game unfolds, long-buried questions surface – about destiny, fulfilment, and the true nature of the soul. With demons both personal and literal to face, only the Fates know who will survive.
“Borrowed Time is essentially about human connections; the degree to which fate intervenes in lives, and the fact that everyone is searching for the same things out of their existence,” explains Stephen who is a long-standing member of the Bridgnorth Writers’ Group
“The ways of achieving this can be good or bad, but it is all about finding a way to survive. My fiction revisits lives that ended abruptly or that were never really lived. Loss of identity; loss of self; loss of family; loss of relationships. These all figure as headline acts in my stories, but I try to restore a sense of living.”
Stephen, who has been a social worker for more than three decades and currently works for the NHS, began creative writing 10 years ago, and his stories explore the nature of vulnerability – from birth to death and beyond.
His previous work includes Watching The Wheels; Mum and Boy; and Fractures, Dreams and Second Chances.
Describing Watching The Wheels, Stephen says: “This collection focuses on themes of vulnerability, isolation and living on the outside of the wider world to tell tales of people who are exposed, looking for answers, and the lengths they are prepared to go.”
Mum and Boy is a collection of four individual and complex stories about human development and the psychological nature of the mother and son relationship.
Fractures, Dreams and Second Chances tells the story of Freddie and Jo-Jo’s teenage romance, their lives apart and their attempt to reignite their love after being separated for over three decades.
Further information on Borrowed Time is available from The Book Guild, at bookguild.co.uk/bookshop/contemporary/borrowed-time
Follow Stephen on Instagram @sab_author
