Description
Story Origins:
Unlike my novels, The Court of Mishaps and Foolishness did not begin with a title, a place or even a character. It began with the people I live alongside. From the very beginning I realised this wasn’t a book that would have an ending. Residents move in. Friends pass away. New friendships begin. New stories emerge. That’s why I gave it the subtitle The Book That Never Ends.
For the past few years I have lived in sheltered accommodation, a retirement community of fifty-two flats occupied by people from all walks of life. Some are lifelong locals. Others have travelled the world, served in the Forces, raised families, built businesses or simply lived long and interesting lives. What we all have in common is that every one of us has a story worth telling.
One day it occurred to me that, unless somebody wrote those stories down, many of them would simply disappear. So I suggested that each resident should write a chapter about a favourite memory from their own life, and together we could create a community journal for future generations.
It was an excellent idea.
Then everyone looked at me.
‘You write it, Keith.’
Well, there wasn’t much escape after that.
The result was never intended to be a history of the Court, nor an autobiography, nor even a collection of short stories. It became something altogether different: memories, mishaps, observations, local characters, snippets of everyday life and the sort of conversations that only happen when people have known one another long enough to laugh together.
Between the chapters I added some of my own observations from walking around the local shops and High Street. They became Sitting by the Side of the Road—little snapshots of ordinary life that somehow seemed to belong alongside the Court’s stories.
Some chapters are funny. Others are quietly sad. A few are simply daft. That, I suppose, is life.
Sadly, since the book was first published, we have lost some of the friends whose stories appear in its pages. New neighbours have arrived. New friendships have formed. New tales have been told.
Which is exactly why the book carries that subtitle.
Communities are always changing. People come and go. As long as there is another story to tell, another smile to share or another memory worth preserving, this book will never really be finished.
And I rather like that.
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