Don't Tell My Mother

Abstract

The Impossible Story of Hannah Kent is a young adult manuscript focused on 12 – 15-year-old readers. The story has magical realist elements and is set in small town New Zealand. The female protagonist’s journey centers around coming to terms with her adoption and related childhood traumas. For this reason, I chose to use first person, present tense. This narrative style allows the reader clear insights into the protagonist’s thought processes and emotional state, potentially deepening the connection between the reader and a flawed heroine. The accompanying exegesis Don’t Tell My Mother examines two aspects of the writing process. Firstly, how researching the psychological impact of adoption influenced the development of Hannah’s character. Secondly, the thematic importance of mother archetypes and their relationship with fairy tales, which also formed a psychological approach to my creative thesis.