The teenage novel Unhooking the Moon, the debut by British author Gregory Hughes, has raised significant interest lately, winning the UK Booktrust Prize. In an interview with The Guardian, Hughes revealed that he wrote the book in Iceland.
More specifically, he wrote it in eight months in a tiny room in Reykjavík, mbl.is reports.
“When I look back at myself sitting in that cold, dismal, room in Reykjavik, cooking meals on a one-ring stove, and struggling to write until late into the night, I feel a certain sadness,” Hughes told The Guardian. “Because I never knew then if the book would ever be published.”
“I would like to go back in time and tell myself that one day it would win the Booktrust competition. But even if I could I probably wouldn’t have believed it. I’m such a sceptic. To me, winning the Booktrust makes Iceland worthwhile,” he commented.
The book covers orphaned siblings who travel from Canada to New York in search for the uncle. The only thing they know about him is his name and that he’s a drug dealer. Hughes himself was raised in a home for troubled boys in Liverpool and later around North America.
Click here to read the interview with Hughes in full.
