Jack Ellis is a writer with two novels under his belt. His first, The Best Feeling Of All, deals with girls growing up through various stages of their lives. It explores their friendships and new relationships as they traverse their worlds both together and separately. Ellis’s latest novel, Home And Other Hiding Places, again explores the theme of growing up, only this time the main character is an eight year old boy, Griffin – or Fin for short. The novel has the feel of a Boy’s Own Adventure story with a touch of disfunctional family dynamics thrown in. Ellis also has a day job as a Family Mediator and deals with dysfunctional family issues on a daily basis. He is especially focused on the effects these issues have on children.
In this novel Ellis wanted to present the world in the way a child would see it.
“Kids see the possibilities in things. They have a way of filtration and take time to stop and observe things that an adult would walk straight past. They are enchanted by the world” said Ellis.
Jack Ellis
Fin is a boy with a healthy curiosity about the world and all the creatures in it. Including humans. He wonders about things like how God got all the details right, like the bones in the fish he catches and the shell on the crab he eventually sets free. He also wonders whether or not his mum will be on time to pick him up from school and whether or not friends can be relied upon. Without giving too much away this novel is full of adventure, humour and astute observations of human flaws. Full of defining moments. A real page turner and proof that, as one of the characters in the book says, “Sometimes things are real even when they aren’t.”
Home And Other Hiding Places by Jack Ellis and published by Ultimo Press will be in book shops and online from February 2, 2022.
