Velvedorum by Suzanne Harper

When asked by a work colleague what I was reading, I simply described Velvedorum as a novel 'about modern goth culture'. They're response: 'They actually write books about that?!'

In fact, Velvedorum is about a lot more than modern goth culture. It is a story of finding yourself, being true to who you really are and having the courage to face the repercussions of that decision. It's a book about people who have been forced to the very edges of society through fear, prejudice and a lack of understanding. It's a book about the way society views its members who choose to 'step outside the box' a little.

Velvedorum follows the very different lives of two people; Chris Ward, a long time goth living in Bournemouth. He grew up in a foster home, works in an independent record store and, for him, being a goth in a society where you are judged within seconds has begun to lose its charm and rebellious excitement.

The other character is Dr Anna Mitchell, a woman with a priviledged life, who grew up never wanting for anything and forever striving to fit her Mother's ideal of 'normal'. But Anna has a hole inside her, which she has never quite been able to fill, until a chance trip to Camden Town in London opens her eyes to a lifestyle which seems to satisfy that strange emptiness she's learned to live with.

"Nothing more needed to be said than what was already in someone's eyes: you are not normal." page 7

And while Chris is finding the answer to his problems, Anna simply seems to be creating them. Her new-found love for gothic culture sees her own Mother disown her, her friends snub her and society fear her. But after a lifetime of pleasing others, it's time for her to find herself, no matter what.

Velvedorum is a book that gets you involved within the first few lines. The style of the narrative flows easily and has an informal feel; like a friend talking to a friend. It is clear in her writing, that the transition to the world of goth, and the difficulties of being accepted as such, is something that Suzanne Harper has personally experienced hersef. And it is this personal injection of Suzanne's experiences, passions and beliefs that makes this book so exciting and so accessible.

The main characters of the book are not only instantly likeable, but believable too - Chris, with his enthusiasm for rebelling beginning to wane, and Anna desperate to break free from her stifling upbringing. It's great to experience the coming together of characters who, having walked such different paths in life, find themselves ending up in exactly the same place. And I know that happens, because that's how things happened to me and my other half.

The book is full of obstacles; it seems that just as our protagonists seem to find happiness, another great big leather-clad spanner is thrown into the works. And it is this that keeps the reader turning the pages. I simply couldn't put this book down. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about reading it, and I have become very adept at doing things with one hand; with Velvedorum in the other.

You cannot help but want to protect the secret of Velvedorum yourself; whether it be because you think that this may be the answer to your problems, or, that the goth subculture seems to be getting somewhat watered down as it drips into popular fashion, so it is important that goths have something to call their own. Their own secret from the rest of the world. And so, as each new obstacle is thrown into the story, it is impossible to put the book down until you know the outcome.

Suzanne Harper has been writing fiction since she was thirteen, but this is her first published book, spurred on by the importance of her message, a need for this book to be read. Suzanne turned to the goth subculture when she was thirty, having "felt so far removed from the idea of what was considered to be 'acceptable' within the confines of...society." And while society at large had viewed her with suspicion, the goth community welcomed her "with the most amazing warmth and acceptance."

But she soon found that dressing as a goth resulted in "some rather hostile attitudes from friends as well as people [she] did not even know." It was from her own experiences of hostility that Velvedorum was grown. She "began to wonder if other goths out there were experiencing the same types of things" and so "discrimination and intolerance toward alternative people" became the focus of the story. She wanted Velvedorum to be the book to get goth "voices heard and to let other goths out there know that they are not alone."

This was Suzanne's motivation for writing Velvedorum, and it all came to a head with the tragic death of Sophie Lancaster.

I met Suzanne on the first day we started High School...I remember her telling me 'One day I will write a REAL book'. Suzanne, your day has come, I am so proud of you. Jenny

Suzanne attended the memorial service for Sophie which was held during the Whitby Gothic Weekend in October 2008. It was then that she "suddenly realised that the hostility [she] had been experiencing was a frighteningly real hazard". More than simply being shouted at in the street, there are goths who are attacked and even killed, simply because of the way they dress. And this realisation "meant that the book now had a very real reason to be written, and a very real purpose to serve".

Velvedorum is not only a message to the goth community; offering a story of solidarity and hope in an often prejudice, small-minded world, but it is a message to society at large, a call to action to change the way we think. "Because while everyone is busy judging everyone else on their visual appearance, they are forgetting that what makes someone a bad/undesirable person is usually something that you cannot physically see."

But, overall, the story of Velvedorum is symbolic "in that if this is a world that won't allow us to exist, we can create our own, because there, we are always free."

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Keller is EGL Magazine's editor. She has a degree in Writing which includes Journalism and she honescould not put this book down.