Lauren’s debut historical novel to be published in April

The debut novel by a Derry author is to be published by one of the most prestigious publishing houses in the world.

‘The Boy Who Saw In Colours’ by Lauren Robinson is to be released by Simon and Schuster in April.

The historical novel is set in Nazi Germany and the central character is a 12-year-old boy Josef, who is selected to go to one of Hitler’s elite schools.

Lauren spent years researching the book and started working on it when she was just 17. At that time she was living in Melbourne, Australia, with her parents.

“The book is about a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany. You want to b e as historically accurate and respectful to the people involved,” Lauren said. “I did a ton of research and there was so much to learn about, including many things you wouldn’t really learn unless you went to look for it.

“I wanted to explore what it was like for the people who were caught up in the ideology of the time. It is about Josef’s life in an elite school and the people that he meets.

“I don’t want to give too much away, but in the story his father is a German Jew. Josef and his brother are very conflicted about which side they should be on.”

Lauren said she hasn’t read or seen anything similar to her story before and “I felt it was important to share what it was like for German people who were otherwise good people but were taken in by Fascist ideologies and propaganda.”

Lauren was so passionate about her book that she took up German lessons with a private tutor. She also visited Munich, Berlin and the German countryside where much of the novel is set.

Lauren, who returned to live in Derry with her family two years ago, has wanted to be an author for a number of years. “Writing and reading are my big passions. I have wanted to be a writer since I was around 15 or 16 but it never really clicked that I could do it as a career. I thought it would be more realistic to study journalism and get into writing that way. I thought I could perhaps write books on the side but it has happened the other way around.”

Lauren is currently in her second year studying journalism at Ulster University and is very focused on her studies. However, she hopes ‘The Boy Who Saw In Colours’ sells well so it is an option for her to publish more novels in the future.

She said that having Simon and Schuster publish her debut novel is ‘surreal’.

“Whenever I finished my manuscript I had absolutely no clue what to do with it, so I spent some time researching that. I started just submitting it to publishers, which I later learned is something you just should not do.

“There was a point I didn’t know what to do next, but I kept going and got a literary agent who was really interested in my book and in the topic.”

After some rejection letters, Simon and Schuster agreed to publish Lauren’s book.

“It was totally unbelievable. You hear of a lot of actors and writers who get imposter syndrome and that is definitely a real thing. When you see your name on a book cover it is very surreal.”

The book will be released worldwide and Lauren often forgets how impressive it is for a debut author to secure such a deal.

“Whenever I tell people I am very matter of fact about it but their response always makes me remember it is a big deal.”

Lauren said she will wait until her studies are completed before she considers writing another book. She also hopes to travel in the future.

“Whenever I started working on this book there was a big passion there and I want to have that same passion for any other books or projects that I work on.”

‘The Boy Who Saw In Colours’ is released on April 20 and is available for pre-order from March and a free bookmark is available.