End Of Story

END OF STORY is a piece of highly original speculative fiction, with an unpredictable twist, set in a world where fiction has been banned by the government for 5 years – and reading fairytales to children is punishable my law. Perhaps too much imagination can be a dangerous thing… It will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in March 2023 – you can check out the Bookseller announcement here.

It’s the year 2035 and fiction has been banned by the government for five years. Writing novels is a crime. Reading fairytales to children is punishable by law.

Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.

But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding? And who can be trusted?

Louise Swanson is the pseudonym for Louise Beech, who has published seven novels with Orenda Books. THE LION TAMER WHO LOST (2018) was longlisted for the Polari Prize while CALL ME STARGIRL (2019) and THE MOUNTAIN IN MY SHOE (2016) were both longlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize. Louise is represented by Emily Glenister at DHH Literary Agency.