Alumna Releases Powerful Debut Novel 

Congratulations to alumna Fiona Williams (Spurgeon’s 1994) on the release of her powerful and emotional debut novel, The House of Broken Bricks. 

The novel, which was Faber’s super lead debut for January 2024 is a tender story about family, loss and life in the countryside and, since publication, has received a huge amount of praise.

Critic Sarah Moss described it as “Haunting prose that cracks the English pastoral novel and lets the darkness in. A pleasure to read.” Author Jo Browning Wroe described it as: “A clever, heartbreaking, heartwarming depiction of family love, grief and the possibility of hope.” 

In an interview on BBC Woman’s Hour, Fiona describes writing the book while looking out over fields where she lives on the Somerset Levels, surrounded by the sights and smells of nature – far removed from her life growing up in southeast London. She discusses the inspiration behind the book, which is the story of a broken family and what they see and what they cannot say laid bare in their overlapping perspectives. It confronts issues of belonging, race and the connections that make a place a home. 

In the interview Fiona describes the similarities between several of her characters and members of her own family, as well as herself. She describes wanting to touch on life as a black woman living in the countryside; of leaving her close-knit British Jamaican family in London and navigating life in a new community. 

She said:

“I wanted to look at what really is home. It’s not always the places you expect. Home can be anywhere you have strong connections... As long as you have people around you who support you and love you, that's home.” 

Fiona completed a Science degree after leaving Alleyn’s and became a freelance science writer. She began this first novel while completing an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Fiona was awarded the Bridport Prize Novel Award for The House of Broken Bricks in 2021. She is currently researching her second novel and also doing a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Exeter. 

Congratulations, Fiona on this fantastic debut novel and the wonderful coverage it has been receiving. We hope you’re enjoying every moment of this success! 

Image of Fiona credit: Joseph Williams