How does a novel come into being? How do characters become lifelike and alive? What does ›to condense one’s style‹ mean? And how do you tackle crises? Using his own work, and other well-known works as examples, Benedict Wells tells of the magic and fascination of writing. But The Stories Inside Us is also a personal foray from his childhood to his first publications. A wise and moving book.
 

Ten great stories written over ten years provide multifaceted insights into how a writer develops. Touching, surprising and tragic, funny, wise and fun – Benedict Wells can turn his hand to anything.

These are stories about everything and nothing. Stories about the misfortune of being free, and about a woman facing an existential decision. About a place where no one goes voluntarily, yet which still becomes a home. About a struggling present-day screenwriter catapulted back to the New Hollywood of 1973, giving him four years's time to steal the most famous movie idea of the 20th century. Last but not least a story from the world of The End of Loneliness, that casts a light on a dark family secret.
Ten very different stories from a world in which lies, dreams truths flow together. By turns touching, funny, surprising, and often unforgettable.

Francis Dean lives with his mother in a rundown trailer park in New Jersey. He figures he will probably live there until he dies. That is, until the day when he finds out the truth about how he was brought into the world. Apparently his existence is the result of an absurd experiment that his mother took part in. And it seems that his father is not some loser who left his family in the lurch after all, but a scientific genius from Harvard. Meeting him could change Francis' life. Together with his best friend Grover, an eccentric brain-box, and the girl of his dreams, the delicate, unpredictable Anne-May, he sets off on a cross-country journey to the West coast to find his father. Francis wants to find out who he really is, and he has nothing to lose – or does he? A dramatic journey of discovery with unrelenting twists and turns and a truly breathtaking showdown.