Today we talk about What goes around comes around, a book by Alan Hick, published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Alan Hick, to get to know him better, what are the crucial themes of his book What goes around comes around, as well as what is the message he wanted to send out with his story.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What are the crucial themes of your book?
The book is really about reaching back to what you once believed in. From Brussels with love? Yes, I think so! Satirical and humorous, my book gently pokes fun at a fictional European project in crisis and a bureaucracy in denial, just when the European ideal is under attack by the lies and smears of a shouty “out” campaign. It’s also about a long-lost love story from yesteryear momentarily coming back into focus. The two themes unfold in parallel, with surprising results. Can Anthony, our anti-hero, get back to where he started? Can he believe in dreams again? Can Peter Pan make a come-back? Or is it all just an illusion? Dream and reality gradually converge in a heartfelt and totally new take on the Europe debate. From Brexit with love? Not really … but a charming journey of fun, nostalgia, mischief and renewal.
- Was the idea for this book born at a particular moment? What was that?
The book is a stage comedy loosely based on my novel of the same name, kindly published by Austin Macauley in 2017 and written some years earlier for fun and self- indulgence. Since then, Brexit, Covid and rainy days in Brussels convinced me to do a new stage play version, updated, funnier, with new outrageous characters and taking more account of the awful referendum campaign and our exit from the EU. Fictional and way over the top, it ludicrously portrays our unfortunate journey towards Brexit and how one day, perhaps, we might reach back again – what goes around comes around!
- What message did you want to send out with your book?
Jacques Delors once famously said “you don’t fall in love with a Common Market, you need something else.” My book modestly tries to illustrate, through comical satire and gentle nostalgia, how we might be able to “fall in love” again with Europe and, in a more personal way, our “first love.” A tough call, no doubt, but there’s always hope if you believe enough to make a difference. So, my message is: We want our Europe back! – Just a “dream” perhaps, “but that’s where I’ll be waiting”.
- How was your publishing experience?
Excellent! I’m delighted to be published by Europe Books, which chimes and corresponds perfectly with my story. I also love the Italian dimension and feminine corporate culture of Europe Books – molte grazie!
- Are you planning to write more books?
Yes, something totally different and I’m writing it now – “Buster Arlington Prevails”, a 1930’s style international intrigue and adventure caper, rather tongue-in-cheek, and the next best thing to Indiana Jones (in my dreams!). It all started with a family discussion about good book titles. My daughter wisely advised me that the best method is to name a book after your first dog and the first street you lived in. My first (boxer) dog was called Buster, the first street I lived in was Arlington Street, Stockton-on-Tees. Hence: “Buster Arlington” – I added “Prevails” and the rest, as they say, is history …! Hopefully Europe Books might indulge me once again?
Europe Books thanks the author Alan Hick once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book What goes around comes around. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, I really wish this book through his satire and his nostalgia let you again fall in love with Europe as if it were really a first love. Who knows if this doesn’t really happen one day … in the meantime, let’s get lost in reading a book that will surely keep you glued to every page, day after day.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!