It’s true that everyone has a story to tell.

What’s also true is there are stories we don’t think we can tell. Or should tell. It’s equally true that there are stories we don’t want to hear, or stories that get overlooked.

But it’s the idea of the stories we think can’t tell that really captured my interest, and is an important theme in my debut novel, Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here.

Brooklyn, who wakes up one morning without a heartbeat (it’s not a zombie story, I swear), has spent her life stifling her feelings, shoving down grief, and hiding secrets from her family and friends, because she doesn’t think they’ll believe her, or want to hear what’s really going on.

As a result, she’s isolated, has burned out of her career, and is stuck in her life. Her relationship with her family is strained and she doesn’t feel connected to them. She struggles to create friendships because her best friend, a disaster relief worker, is missing overseas and Brooklyn refuses to deal with her complicated feelings about it. 

At work, Brooklyn, like so many women, is silenced in meetings and talked over by men because of systemic sexism. It has destroyed her confidence, even though she’s skilled and talented. This experience is unfortunately one many women have in the office, and it’s something that often gets silenced (usually by the same men who can’t stop interrupting women in meetings). 

In writing Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here, I wanted to explore the furthest reaches of what happens when we take away people’s voices, autonomy, and stories. It’s fiction, so no matter how bad things get, it’s always fun to make it worse, which is why Brooklyn’s very life is in danger because of her silenced stories. 

Brooklyn, like so many women, has a story to tell about her life. She just needs to find a way to tell it before it’s too late.

— Written by Alli Vail

Alli Vail appears in the Literary Cabaret on Oct. 18. Tickets are on sale now.