THE NIGHT IS YOUNG
In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my university shut and the UK went into lockdown. I did not manage to travel home and thus had to stay in my flat in Edinburgh alone. Once my essays and online exams were over, I was left with a lot of time on my hands and wanted to make the most of it, so I decided to start writing this novel.
I had had a vague idea for this book for a while. I initially started writing it in French, but realising that most of my readers are English, I opted to switch languages. It took me about 2 months to write the full draft and proofread it. I then sent it to my mother who kindly read it over and pointed out some typos and errors. I then spent another week or so making the corrections while also working on the cover and formatting, and eventually published it as a paperback and an e-book in June 2020.
In this book, I wanted to denounce the idealisation of "normality". Someone that is different to you is not necessarily abnormal, yet many people cannot accept that. While this is explored through the theme of disability in this novel, it is the same for skin colour, sexual orientation, religion, traditions etc. I equally aimed to show how peer pressure can affect someone and how it is often hardships, despite the pain that they cause, that make us stronger and make us realise who and what is important to us. Finally, I wanted to emphasise the fact that nothing in life should be taken for granted as you never know what can happen.
About the title: "the night is young" is a phrase that means that it is still early at night and there is thus plenty of time to do things, referring to the times when the teenage protagonists are at parties and still have the whole night to have fun. More importantly, it relates to when the main character sets out on a perilous journey to solve a mystery and is striving to reach his destination before sunrise - his surname is also "Young" so that adds another dimension to the title.