When Alice Oseman started producing a webcomic about two teenage lads falling in love, she would have had no idea how important her work would be. Following her successful publication of ‘Solitaire’ – a book about an anxious Tori Spring – Alice decided to expand the focus onto her side characters. She gave Tori’s brother Charlie a storyline with his boyfriend Nick, which resulted in another novella and the Timblr ‘Heartstopper’ cartoons.
A Groundswell Of Love
Heartstopper was eventually rolled out as four books, initially, with two more editions to come. As a successful YA story about growing up and coming to terms with being gay and bi, it has been groundbreaking to witness its widespread success and acceptance.
In 2022 Hearstopper was made into an eight part TV show which was scripted by Alice and had 54 million views in its first month alone. For the LGBTQ+ community this has meant so much. When I was younger we had nothing like this on television. Now you can see two lads fall in love and witness other LGBTQ+ characters dealing with everyday dilemmas in a normal, comfortable way.
As the second season arrived on Netflix last night, I watched the first episode and could see that the high standard of production was continuing and meaningful stories were still being told.
Final Thoughts
This phenomenon is powerful because it sends out a clear message that you can live your life freely, as you choose. By showing such acceptance, dealing with the awkwardness of ‘coming out’ and other serious issues, such as mental health, Alice has worked wonders.
If you are looking for new authors to consider, have a look at 5 Amazing Authors. Please follow my blog for future book and TV reviews.
I know I am not a famous writer or anything like that but I was over the moon to see people write reviews of my first novella when it came out in 2019. Now that novella is turning four years old and I still cherish it.
Just because I can – I decided to share another short extract from, ‘The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost.’ Hopefully it will intrigue you.
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From ‘The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost.’
‘Mummm!’
I wished he would give it a rest.
‘Dadddd!’ he went on.
It made me wonder why his mum never answered. I was too busy trying to get knots out of Tess’ hair.
‘What’s wrong now?’ I replied anxiously.
Alfie stormed in with a red face and swollen, angry cheeks.
‘I can’t find my football socks anywhere!’ he announced.
‘Try under the bed,’ I said, trying to remain calm and de-escalate his crossness.
‘Ouch,’ squirmed Tess softly, as I caught yet another knot.
She was always so relaxed. She never let anything get to her. She was ten times cooler than Alfie, whose hot-headedness got him into scrapes left, right and centre.
He stormed out again and slammed the door to his room. I winced and hoped that he could find those damn socks, or we would never hear the end of it. The clock was staring at me and reminding me that we hadn’t got much time left. I went to find Michelle.
The distant noise of a bath filling, coupled with an aroma of scented steam made it obvious that she would not be coming this morning. When we woke up this morning she told me that she had had a bad night’s sleep and her headache was back. Women use headaches as excuses to get out of things, but this was not like her! She always liked to be involved in school-related stuff. She loved the banter between mums. Her favourite thing was pricking her ears up and listening intently for any titbits of gossip that she could soak up from the gaggle of parents who would usually surround her on that packed and bustling playground. Maybe this time she was actually feeling a bit sick. Quickly I realised I should attend to this in a sympathetic, understanding way. After all she had cared for me like a private nurse when I had man flu last Christmas.
‘Are you alright?’ I tried, gently.
She turned off the tap to the bath and opened the window slightly to let out some steam.
‘Have fun today. I bet the assembly goes well.’
I could tell she was not feeling very well. She kept holding her head; sort of wiping her brow as she spoke. I had not seen her look like this for a long, long while. Thinking back, I should have realised this was out of the ordinary for her. Instead of prying further, I left her to it, planting a quick kiss on her forehead and then rushing down the stairs.
Alfie and Tess soon followed and we collected our things and burst out into the driveway, where they ran to the car, Alfie calling shotgun as usual to make sure he got to sit in the front passenger seat. I asked if he had kissed his mum and he simply said the bathroom door was shut. Tess went on to say, ‘I hope mummy gets better soon because I want to go swimming later.’
When we got Tess off to class and I had signed Alfie in, I went to find a seat next to someone I barely knew and sent Michelle a text. Quickly I switched off the phone and tucked my coat under my chair. I gave a slight nod to Matt as he rolled in, just in time. The lights came on and that teacher did the introduction. It did not cross my mind that today was going to turn out so black and dismal and full of anger.
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Thank you so much for reading this extract from my book. As my novella is now four, I will be finding ways to celebrate with articles and extracts over the summer.
For another book review of mine, have a look at my write up of The Lost Daughter which was a very well written and satisfying novella. Please consider following my blog for more book, film and TV reviews alongside articles about climate change.
