Well after about 2 years, I’ve just finished my first novel (well the manuscript anyway!). The Devil’s in the Detail is a religious satire that follows one man’s journey through Purgatory, in a legal battle to see whether his soul will be sent to Heaven or Hell. David Shepherd is a 42-year old London cab driver that dies an “everyday hero” – saving a girl from a gang of drunken youths. But what is the criteria for entry to Heaven that we are assessed by when we die? What really defines a good person?
The story weaves the Bible’s Ten Commandments through themes that all of us face each and every day: Love, loss, sin and redemption. The drama is played out in a court trial in the bureaucratic world of Purgatory, with flashbacks over a thirty year period from David’s life in London. Although the novel explores the deep moral quandaries that all of us contemplate at some point in our lives, the novel is injected with a quirky, satirical humour.
With the manuscript complete, it’s now time to find myself an agent and/or publisher. I suspect the hard work starts now!
Matthew S. Wilson 