Five Things You Didn’t Know
About Mella from In Your Light
Annalie Grainger
My new novel, In Your Light,
is about secrets, sisters and running away. It tells the story of
sixteen-year-old Lil, whose life fell apart four months ago when her older
sister, Mella, vanished without a trace. It is Lil’s love for her sister and
the desperate search to find her that drives the narrative.
I love Mella as a character – she’s probably one of my favourites in the
whole book. I can see her so clearly in my mind: emotionally vulnerable but
fiercely independent, the life-and-soul of a party but desperately lonely
inside, funny and extrovert but also quiet and insecure. She has suffered from
mental health issues all her life, but she hides it so that even her mum and sister
don’t really know what’s going on with her. I was keen to show that it’s really
hard to ask for help, and sometimes we don’t know that someone is suffering
because they are so good at hiding their true feelings.
Here
are five things you might not know about Mella...
1.
Mella
is short for Melanie. When Lil was
little, she couldn't say Melanie and it kept coming out as Mella. The name
stuck.
2.
Mella
is a big romantic. She
adores old romantic comedies like Brief Encounter, Breakfast
at Tiffany's and Casablanca.
3.
She is
short-sighted. You won't know
this because she never wears glasses, or contact lenses. She just walks around
with everything a bit blurry.
4.
She
is always late, for everything.
5.
Her
biggest fear is that her family will not be able to forgive her for what she's
done.
In Your
Light by Annalie Grainger is out now (£7.99. Simon & Schuster)
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