Has been revised and updated in July 2026

 

What if the adults disappeared? For many of us, there are moments, especially in childhood, when we feel as though they have. When we’re left to navigate the world alone, searching for connection, for someone who understands.

 

Purple is a fictionalised response to my own teenage loneliness.

 

I left home at 16 because my parents couldn’t accept my sexuality. Growing up gay in 1980s Britain, under a government that seemed determined to erase us, I felt abandoned. I eventually found my people in nightclubs, where the music drowned out the noise of the world outside. But there were no official safe spaces. No internet. Meeting people face-to-face sharpened my instinct and intuition, and I learned to trust that quiet, stubborn hope: somewhere, someone else felt the same.

 

But here’s the truth: We are not alone. There are billions of us on this planet, and even in the darkest moments, there’s always someone to talk to, to laugh with, to share the weight. Purple is for anyone who’s ever needed that reminder. Underneath the surface, we all long to love and to be loved. 

 

Fifteen years after its first publication, I’ve revisited Purple — tweaking the ending to clarify a few threads. Time has given me the distance to see the story with fresh eyes, and I hope these small changes make the journey even clearer for you.