Author: Jessica Stilling

Publisher: DX Varos Publishing 

ISBN: 978-1955065665

“I woke up this morning to a story about me in the paper.

 

With so much going on in the world;wars, climate change, all that crap happening in America, you'd figure people wouldn't have time. I make films with small distribution deals. My mother is a writer. I don't get why people are even tuning in but maybe I just never saw myself, my own life, even all this shit that's been happening, as sensational.”

The most skillfully written novel that I have read this year,  Between Before and After, is not only compelling, but deeply satisfying in it's conclusion. But lets go back to the beginning. This is the story of a young indie film director who has recently set out to make a film about the death of a young girl in Paris.

The problem? The filmmaker is a man named Sebastian Foster, and the little girl is Lucy, his young sister. Lucy Foster tragically passed away in a house fire in 1994, when she was only five years old. Almost 30 years later, Sebastian is determined to create a film about Lucy's last summer, when his family was living in Paris after having moved from New York City.

Why did he decide to make this film in particular? Well, Sebastian makes films based off of the novels that his mother writes and it just so happens that she wrote a novel about Lucy's death.

Although she changed the names of the characters, and changed the method of Lucy's demise, Regina Foster's novel is close enough to reality that many people in Sebastian's life wonder why he is choosing to adapt it, despite the pain it must be causing him to do so.

Sebastian certainly relives a lot of trauma in the process of making the film, but he continues, and the novel is just as special of a creation as the fictional film within.

Told in poetic pose with well drawn-out troubled characters, this is stupendous piece of writing! Jessica Stilling has to be one of my favorite new authors of 2022!

About Jessica Stilling

Jessica Stilling has written three works of literary fiction, Betwixt and Between, The Beekeeper’s Daughter, and The Weary God of Ancient Travelers. She also wrote poetry and short fiction for various literary journals.

Her articles have appeared in Ms. Magazine, Bust Magazine and she writes extensively for The Writer Magazine. She has taught Creative Writing in both high school and university.

She also publishes young adult fantasy under the pen name JM Stephen.

Jessica loves Virginia Woolf, very long walks, and currently lives in southern Vermont where she writes for the very local newspaper, The Deerfield Valley News. You can find out more about Jessica and her books on her website: https://www.jessicastilling.com/