A Grimsby man who credits his teachers at the former Western Comprehensive School as his biggest inspiration is gearing up to release his second novel. Glenn Bryant, 48, who grew up in Laceby Acres but now lives in Oxfordshire, wrote 'Darkness Does Not Come at Once', which tells the story of Meike, a 17-year-old girl from 1939
Germany who uses a wheelchair and is forced to flee after the government announced disabled youngsters must spend the War in specially designated institutions. Being a full-time carer for his wife, Juliet, who is also in a wheelchair due to paralysis from a spinal cord injury, Glenn felt compelled to raise awareness of the horrors which he feels are "hardly ever talked about". READ MORE: Grimsby boy A T Wright to release first novel - The Northern Travels - at age of just 14 East Marsh community hub's plea for help as cost of living funding that feeds families stops The story is based on real events, in which thousands of disabled children were murdered in what became a training ground for the 1941-1945
Holocaust. Speaking to Grimsby Live, former newspaper journalist Glenn said: “I had the idea for the book after reading about the history of what had happened, to hundreds of thousands of people in Germany, simply because they were ‘different’. And it had nothing to do with race or religion. “In the 85 years since, this history has hardly ever been talked about. It took Germany until 2014, only 10 years ago, to formally recognise what happened, by opening a memorial in
Berlin to remember. In a small way, through writing a book, I aimed to achieve two things: raise awareness of what happened, and make people think about how they view someone today, who they might class as 'different'. The 'Darkness Does Not Come at Once' book cover “At the end of chapter one, the story asks you, the reader, a question. ‘What would you do if, tonight, the
police knocked on the front door of your home, and they arrested you? You were driven away and you were placed in custody. Your family didn’t know where. And you didn’t know why. What would your family do? What might you do? To survive?'. “In my story, it puts that dilemma to a young woman in Berlin in 1939. It’s a work of fiction, but it’s based on real events and a real situation which confronted hundreds of thousands of people throughout Germany at that time.” When asked if his experiences growing up in Grimsby ever inspired Glenn in his writing, he said: “All the time. Not directly, in the places I have so far written about. My book is set on the edge of Berlin. But indirectly, in the story’s lead characters. "It isn’t conscious, but they’re always underdogs, on the edge of their social circle and scene. But, increasingly through the story, they own it. They’re stronger for it, in the end. I think that’s how I’ve felt in my life. Because I went to Western Comprehensive and because I grew up in Grimsby. But they don’t have to be disadvantages.” Glenn said it was his teachers at the former Western Comprehensive School who inspired him to attend university. He said: “I had a great, happy experience growing up in Laceby Acres. I went to Western Comprehensive, which is now no longer standing, which still looks odd to me, when I see it. “I live today in South Oxfordshire, which is flooded with high-achieving academic schools, many private. But the teachers at Western Comprehensive inspired me, to ultimately go on to university, particularly my English teacher, Mr Roger Staniforth. Anyone who went to Western in that period will remember him fondly. I had a great experience at secondary school." Despite moving away at the age of 22, Glenn holds fond memories of the town. “Grimsby’s where you’re from. It always will be. I’m glad I had the chance to grow up in Grimsby," he said. 'Darkness Does Not Come at Once' will be released on Sunday, April 28. To pre-order your copy on
Amazon, click here .