TO BE PUBLISHED

THE SHAPE I TOOK
A novel by Ash Merriden

In 1970s rural Australia, a boy learns that anything soft has to be hidden. Matthew watches from the edges and makes himself into someone easier to understand.

A friendship with a sharp-eyed girl gives him somewhere safe. A glance from another boy raises questions he can’t ask anyone. Through the schoolyard, family secrets and, later, the navy, Matthew carries a secret that grows heavier every year, until he can no longer keep it.

The Shape I Took is a queer coming-of-age novel about growing up different and finally learning to stop hiding.

NEXT BOOK

ONLY THE WIND

My second book is a historical novel based on my grandmother’s escape from Soviet Russia. It follows Maria, as she is swept from the plains of southern Russia to the far side of the world, who believes that silence might keep her family safe. Through years of flight and exile she becomes a clerk, a mother and a survivor, each role another border crossed.