Herts former teacher’s new novel earns praise
Added: (Fri Sep 24 2021)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
English teacher Eugene Vesey has delved deep into his own colourful career and strict religious upbringing for the plot of his latest gripping novel.
The 70-year-old from Hertfordshire has already earned a loyal following with his previous three books and two collections of poetry.
Opposite Worlds, which is a sequel to last year’s hit Ghosters, follows the fortunes of former trainee Catholic priest Frank Walsh as he searches for a new career and a new love in London.
Eugene admits much of his troubling five-star-rated new novel is based on personal experience.
He explained: “The Opposite Worlds story is probably half real, half fiction.
“Let’s just say it required very little research since it’s largely based on personal experience and observation.”
Set in the 1980s, Opposite Worlds is a story of lust and longing as lapsed Catholic Frank and disabled singer Mary meet in a smoky folk club.
Scars from the past prove difficult for either of them to heal in this absorbing new book.
With convincing characterisation and a gritty, real-life plot, Eugene’s latest work is both gripping and thought-provoking.
Since its recent release, Opposite Worlds has been described by reviewers as ‘the testimony of a survivor’ and ‘a graphic, courageous and honest account of the damaging effects of institutional abuse’.
Whereas Ghosters was an eye-opening study of faith and guilt within the Roman Catholic seminary, Eugene’s sequel demonstrates the demons from all our pasts can be difficult to exorcise.
He explained: “Frank has now left home and family again and fled to London to re-invent himself.
“Teaching English to foreign students allows him to meet some glamorous girls.
“But none of these relationships work out and he finds himself alone and lonely again.
“Then, one evening in a folk club in an Irish pub, he hears a young, attractive girl singing and instantly falls in love with her.
“Love leads to marriage - reluctantly at first on Frank's part - but their marriage proves to be a collision of two very different, indeed opposite, worlds.”
Eugene progressed from his own strict Catholic education in Manchester to seminaries in the Lake District and English Midlands to study theology and philosophy.
He later graduated in English language and literature from the University of Manchester and went on to obtain a post-graduate certificate in education from the University of Liverpool.
He relocated to London where he has continued to teach English as a foreign language.
His favourite authors include James Joyce, D H Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway.
For more information visit Amazon and search for Eugene Vesey, where the Kindle and paperback versions of Opposite Worlds are available.
Notes to the Editor
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