Warwick man continues his late father's legacy by bringing his book to life

In March, Greg Smith self-published ‘Parallel Estates’ on Amazon.

The dystopian book was started in the 1990s by his father Paul Smith while the family were living in Kenilworth, but it remained a first draft.

In 2009, Paul died from cancer, leaving behind his wife Jocelyn and his children Hayley, Greg and Lauren.

Jocelyn, who was born in Leamington and moved back in 2015, said: “Paul was always an avid reader and often jotted down ideas – we’ve still got bits of paper where he’s mapped out ideas for other stories.

"Paul enjoyed reading dystopian, sci-fi and fantasy books – his favourite book being Lord of the Rings.”

"For Parallel Estates, I think he was inspired by real world events such as the AIDS crisis.

"He was born and raised in Nottingham, which was the setting for the book.

"Paul was politically motivated, from a working class background and quite impoverished – and you can see that in the world and characters he built in the book.”

Passing down the book

After Paul died, Jocelyn passed down the manuscript to Greg as a keepsake.

Greg said: "While I knew dad enjoyed reading and loved classic fantasy and Sci-Fi, I had no idea he’d ever considered writing his own, let alone written a full manuscript.

“I recall reading the first few pages shortly after my mum gave me it, but I think I found it a bit too much, so close to him having passed away.

"I kept it in a box under my bed and at some point convinced myself I’d actually lost it between house moves.

“I thought it was lost for around five years – I think I was so scared of confirming I’d lost something so important and precious and the guilt I would feel, that I never actually looked.

"Fast forward to 2024 and I was talking to a friend about it and decided to see if I'd maybe given it to my mum or younger sister to keep – I hadn’t.

"In the end, I decided to face my made-up guilt and checked under my new bed in my new house, and there it was, where it'd obviously always been, in the same box.

"I read it in just a few days, and while some of it was harder to understand and make sense of, given it was an early draft, I was really taken in and impressed by the characters my dad created and the world he'd built around them.

"I was also quite surprised at the genre – a gritty, dystopian story focused on family dynamics and corporate control – as I would’ve assumed if anything he'd have written hard Sci-Fi or fantasy.

"I was struck by how a story written in the early 90s had so many parallels with issues going on in the world today, from corporate greed and government and political influences, to the threat of disease and handling of this in society, particularly scapegoating of different groups (in this case women).”

After reading his father’s book, Greg became inspired to publish it.

He said: “It felt wrong for it to just stay hidden somewhere.

"I also felt sad that it was something he clearly spent a lot of time on and then never seemed to pursue further – in the early 90s the options for self-publishing just weren’t there.

"I was motivated to finish his story and make it permanent by printing it in some way, mainly for me and my family to have.

"The idea from the beginning was to be able to present to my mum and sisters his world for them to enjoy and also connect with him again through it.

"I also felt, now, that it was a really nice way for me to connect with him again, through accessing each other’s brains in a sense.

"But I could see it needed further drafts to finish the story coherently and work on the readability and consistency of the world, characters etc.”

"As a clinical psychologist it was interesting and fun to suddenly have this new avenue to explore human behaviour (in a fictional world) and how people might grapple with the challenges the characters face.”

Publishing the book

Greg spent around five months working on the book – including coming up with a title.

He said: “I felt ‘Parallel Estates’ captured the parallels between the story and the real world, past and present, the alternative history aspect to it, and the parallels of me and my dad working on it in different times but drawing on similar issues.

"The ‘estates’ aspect captures not only the setting and conflicts into the book, but also reflects my dad’s background and what he drew on from that in the story.

"Before I started, I spoke to my younger sister as it felt important to have permission from more than just me in the family, and we agreed it would be just a really nice, sentimental surprise for my mum.

"A couple of my friends were also a huge support with reading through the penultimate draft and giving feedback to help shape its final version.

"It was really important to me to honour dad’s intentions, perspective and voice, and while this did mean I didn’t make certain changes to the story I perhaps would’ve in other circumstances, it helps solidify this was his work first.

"I feel really proud about the book and overwhelmed still sometimes – it’s also bittersweet.

"I only got to work on it because dad passed away and it was lovely to feel that connection and see myself through him again, but ultimately it highlights what we lost.

“I really do think dad would've been proud of the whole book and how it relates so much to past events and current issues, that without him knowing it at the time, it transcends the time period it was written, which made it all the easier for me to develop it.

"I think he'd appreciate how his strong foundations were built on, particularly with including more character introspection and streamlining the plot and working on the ‘realism’.

"I think he'd have been proud to have me as his co-author and would be just as keen to read and reread it as many times as I have.”

Jocelyn added: "I’m immensely proud of Greg and Paul.

"I knew Paul had written a book and it was in its first draft but to see it in print with a combination of Paul’s thoughts and words and my son’s thoughts and words is just wonderful.

“Paul would have been so proud of Greg, they are alike in so many ways and this shared interest and shared skill has made that even more prevalent.

"The fact that Greg has brought his book to life would have meant the world to him.”

"It’s been a real roller coaster.

"I am absolutely over the moon and it’s been very emotional – especially with how my son presented the book to me and also his two sisters.

"Greg had written individual letters to the three of us, he had put so much thought into the wrapping of the books, he had wrapped them with twine with little wooden houses.

"I think for Greg this has been a mixture of positive and negative emotions.

"He has in essence worked on a joint project with his Dad, which is a wonderful gift, a wonderful achievement and therapeutically a good thing, but how sad that his Dad won't know this and Greg and his Dad can't sit and share thoughts, just chat about it.

"After Greg presented it to us, Greg then did a video to the rest of the family.

“Following this I decided to do a ‘book launch’ afternoon for family and friends. It has been nice to see people I know, who don’t normally read, wanting to read Parallel Estates and subsequently enjoyed the story.

"Clearly, the motivation to read was to experience Paul's story. The interest in the book has been positive and continued since then, with family, friends and work colleagues.