Truth Be Told v. Guard Your Heart

Truth Be Told is about truth, forgiveness and the stories that do not fit. Up front, it’s the story of two sixteen-year-old girls, Tara and Faith – imagine ‘Parent Trap meets Derry Girls’. Similar to Guard Your Heart, it’s is a pacy, contemporary YA novel set against the real backdrop of events in Northern Ireland – only this time it’s Autumn 2019. Readers should expect laughs, tears, smiles and a rollercoaster of a read.

The jist of it is that Tara has been raised by her mam and nan in Derry City. Faith lives in rural Armagh. Their lives on opposite sides of a community / political divide couldn’t be more different. Until they come face-to-face with each other and are shocked to discover they look almost identical. Are they connected?

That’s the simple up front story, but of course in my writing, the questions I’m posing tend to dive deeper too. In searching for the truth about their own identities, the teenagers uncover more than they bargained for. But what if finding out who you truly are means undermining everything you've ever known? Sometimes who you are, is not what you expect.

Readers who enjoyed Guard Your Heart, should hopefully love Truth Be Told. They’re a similar style, but unrelated. Truth Be Told isn’t a sequel (I know. *sighs* *Apologises to everyone who fell in love with Aidan and Iona*) Do however expect that same dry wit, self-depreciating humour and voice that is the trademark of this wee corner of the planet – I still love characters who bounce off the page into your heart; and I still adore writing teen protagonists. Do expect a page turner. Do expect it to make you think. 

Up front confession – whilst Guard Your Heart was primarily a Romeo and Juliet, Truth Be Told is more of a quest. I promise though, there is still sizzling romance woven in there too... 

Another key difference is that, in some ways, Truth be Told challenges the dominant narrative / main story of Northern Ireland. Though Guard Your Heart showed the complexity of peace, it still fitted more or less into the ‘Catholics versus Protestants’ telling of Northern Ireland. That’s the story people are most commonly told of here (and possibly most comfortable with hearing) – it fits our box. In recent years across the world, more diverse stories and voices are being heard. In my book, that’s a really good thing. Instead of just the traditional voices saying, ‘This is the way it is, was and always will be’ other voices are rising to ask, ‘Is this the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?’ Truth Be Told digs into those other questions of here. Identity is diversifying and changing. Conflict issues are not always clear cut. Truth can be messy – and hard to hear. 

What was the inspiration behind Truth Be Told? The overarching plot was just something that landed into my head in the space of a day. I’d been toying with a trilogy based on characters from Aidan’s family in Guard Your Heart, or a sequel, or going a different direction completely and writing a dystopian environmental story. None of these fully settled. There was a sense of wanting to write something similar in style to Guard Your Heart, yet different.

Another gnawing in my brain was that, whilst Guard Your Heart told a valid and authentic story from Northern Ireland, it wasn’t the only story. I wanted to tell the stuff that didn’t ‘fit’. In a writing sense, I also wanted to challenge myself to write strong, female protagonists. I’d found Aidan far easier to write than Iona in my début novel so it was like throwing down a personal gauntlet to decide to have two female protagonists.

My writing often reflects contemporary issues in Northern Ireland – stories brew and write themselves in ‘real time’ in my head. In Autumn 2019, the backdrop was no government for three years (yes, you read that right); and campaigns for LGBT rights, Women’s rights and pensions for victims and survivors of the conflict.

With that cocktail of things mixing in my brain, it makes sense to me that Truth Be Told was the story that emerged.  It’s a story with layers. Truth Be Told is about both ‘the Troubles’ and the legacy of that conflict today. At its deepest level, the novel is the story of women across three generations in Northern Ireland. Stories that are often left untold. Stories that are deliberately left out. Stories that challenge patriarchy.  Woven into the narrative are also big questions. Where (if anywhere) is the line between freedom of religion and homophobia? Is violence (in many forms) ever justifiable?  What’s the relationship between truth, justice and forgiveness? These are heavy themes, but honestly, there is also a lot of light, hope and humour in there too!

I value the place on this planet where I live. It is home. It is beautiful. I carry it carefully when I write. I hope that my readers feel that they also are carried carefully through difficult issues and into a place of positivity and peace.