Q: What do you most hope that readers will take from your novel, A Quilting of Scars (NoN Publishing, October 15, 2025)?

A: This novel began in an antique store when I fell in love with a reproduction poster from May 1874. The splendid horse, young Netherby, was available as a proven foal-getter at $4 a single leap. I was charmed by the poster but also intrigued by the idea of a farmer advertising his horse’s services in this way. I began to wonder about the farmer and gradually Larkin’s story revealed itself and the novel unspooled.

I was an educator for nearly thirty years and during that time, I interacted with many young people who were frightened of revealing their sexual identities to parents and family members. Many of them were certain that they would be shunned or sent for counselling to reprogram their inclinations. Sadly, many students I knew were asked to leave their family home as a result of such disclosures and spent weeks, if not months, couch-surfing while attempting to find a more sustainable living arrangement. It broke my heart to see young people turned away by the very individuals who should have embraced them and celebrated their life choices. As I reflected on this, I realized that the church had a role to play in perpetuating the kind of judgement that so damaged these beautiful young people.

And so, as the novel took shape and I came to know Larkin and his best friend Paul, it became important to me to tell their story – which is a love story of sorts and a celebration of male friendship. The setting is placed at the end of the 19th century when small-town Ontario was still very much under the influence of Victorian ideology. This is a period of tremendous growth and potential with huge advances in science and technology and yet the social mores, if you will, were much slower to change.

Placing Larkin’s story in rural Ontario allowed me to celebrate all that was worthwhile, even noble, about that period of farming history while also showing the treatment of such things as breast cancer, prostitution, child abuse and murder in the same period.

Finally, what I hope readers take away from A Quilting of Scars is more than a simple condemnation of those who judge the Larkins of this world, in the form of a deep realization of the vulnerability of young men like Paul and Larkin, both then and now. The murders and fire in the novel are a direct result of unchallenged cruelty and lack of compassion. The secrets that are kept throughout the story changed Larkin’s life and left him isolated and lonely. So much of our society has changed in the last hundred-years but what is so clear to me is how desperately we still need acceptance and unconditional love without judgement. If this novel brings those thoughts to the forefront for readers to consider, I will be grateful.

*A Quilting of Scars* by Lucy E.M Black, published by NoN Publishing

About A Quilting of Scars:

Filled with the pleasure of recognizable yet distinctively original characters and a deftly drawn sense of time and place, A Quilting of Scars brings to life a story of forbidden love, abuse and murder. Pulsing with repressed sexuality and guilt, Larkin Beattie reveals the many secrets he has kept hidden throughout his lonely life. The character-driven narrative is a meditation on aging and remorse, offering a rich account of the strictures and rhythms of farming in the not-so-distant past, highlighting the confines of a community where strict moral codes are imposed upon its members and fear of exposure terrifies queer youth. As Larkin reflects upon key events, his recollections include his anger at the hypocrisy of the church, and the deep grief and loneliness that have marked his path. There is a timelessness to this story which transcends the period and resonates with heart-breaking relevance.

Lucy E.M. Black (she/her/hers) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, The Brickworks, Class Lessons: Stories of Vulnerable Youth and A Quilting of Scars. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada in literary journals and magazines including Cyphers Magazine, the Hawai’i Review, The Antigonish Review, the Queen’s Quarterly and others. She co-ordinates Heart of the Story, an author reading series in Port Perry, writes book reviews for The Miramichi Reader, serves as literary chair for Scugog Arts, is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.