Shawn Callaway Hays and Stephen Callaway Hays

What Light Was is a dialogue novel by authors Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays. The book interweaves the stories of two famous authors, Mary Shelley, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The authors reconstruct their worlds, drawing connections between their personal lives, relationships, and their literary masterpieces. Mary Shelley, the nineteenth century English author of Frankenstein, whose personal life was as dramatic as her iconic novel. Her story is not just about her literary creations, but of the devastating losses she experienced throughout her life. Shelley’s writing became a form of healing, a way of finding her voice and making sense of her grief and heartache. A century later, American author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby represents Fitzgerald’s disillusionment with the Jazz Age – a period marked by excess, wealth and prohibition.  Fitzgerald drew from his own personal experiences, his relationship with his wife who initially rejected him because of his lack of wealth, and led him towards the lifestyle he loathed.

What Light Was is an extraordinary novel written in dialogue by authors Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays. The stories of Shelley and Fitzgerald are beautifully retold through of blend of dialogue, poetry, and meditation.  The book captures a writer’s life, their fears, anxieties, self-doubt, and inspiration. It highlights the emotional and artistic parallels between the two authors, and explores the impact of the creative process on the artists. It examines the relationship between suffering and creativity. Do you have to endure heartbreak, tragedy and turmoil to produce something extraordinary?

This is a fascinating and unique novel, and nothing like I have read before. I was totally engrossed from the very first page to the last.

The book offers a fresh perspective on two literary icons and will appeal to readers of literary fiction, and fans of Shelley and Fitzgerald.

Star rating: 5 Stars

Summary: A masterpiece of literary fiction by Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays.