Ambition becomes reality for Brierley Hill novelist

"The Richness" is a multi-layered tale by Stephen Driscoll which traces the story of three members of an Irish family in the 17th century.

It details how all three ended up leaving the country under different circumstances, ending up in the Caribbean and Northern Africa as servants, slaves and prisoners.

Stephen said he came up with the idea of the story idea after meeting a woman in Smethwick who hailed from Nevis, part of the island nation of St Kitts and Nevis.

He said: "The O'Driscoll clan hails from the area in south-west Ireland where the book begins, which helped inspire the theme of the story.

"It made me wonder if I could be related to the woman through the white and black slavery trade."

The story is told in three parts, with part one following the three journeys through the different countries and situations.

Part two then outlines the social and political issues of the Caribbean and Africa, while part three comes from the present day.

Stephen said: "Part three details a meeting between a black woman and a white man in Smethwick and how they realised they had a connection from 400 years ago.

"The book is based on the irony of slavery and looks at themes like slavery, colonialism, religion, racism and multi-culturalism."

Stephen wrote the book after five years of research around the different themes of the book and took nine months to write it.

The 63-year-old retired Social Worker said he'd always wanted to write a book and said he was pleased with his first attempt at a novel.

He said: "It's been a big relief and ambition to finally write this book as I finally had the time to do it.

"It went from being a light-hearted look at the family's journey to a serious discussion about colonialism and immigration."

"The Richness" will be on sale on Amazon, retailing at £9.99.

Stephen also has some copies of the book available to sign for anyone interested in a signed copy.

Stephen can be contacted at steve.driscoll@hotmail.co.uk