Drift Stumble Fall

Richard feels trapped in his hectic life of commitment and responsibility. From the daily mayhem of having young children, an exhausted wife and pushy in-laws who frequently outstay their welcome, Richard’s existence fills him with panic and resentment. The only place he can escape the dark cloud descending upon him is the bathroom, where he hides for hours on end, door locked, wondering how on earth he can escape. Often staring out of his window, Richard enviously observes the tranquil life of Bill, his neighbour living in the bungalow across the road. From the outside, Bills world appears filled with comfort and peace. Yet underneath the apparent domestic bliss of both lives are lies, secrets, imperfections, sadness and suffering far greater than either could have imagined. Beneath the surface, a family tragedy has left Bill frozen in time and unable to move on. As he waits for a daughter who may never return, Bill watches Richards bustling family life and yearns for the joy it brings. As the two men watch each other from afar, it soon becomes apparent that other people’s lives are not always what they seem. Drift Stumble Fall is author M. Jonathan Lee’s fifth novel, and is his most recent release. Other novels by M. Jonathan Lee include the first and second parts of the ‘The’ trilogy ‘The Page’ and ‘The Radio’, dark family mystery ‘Broken Branches’ and ‘A Tiny Feeling of Fear’.The Radio was nationally shortlisted for the Novel Prize in 2012.Jonathan’s writing has always been inspired by a number of novels, including Alex Garland's The Beach, and his writing is comparable to Mark Haddon, Nick Hornby and Joseph Connolly.Jonathan’s novels are published with the Northern Publishing House, Hideaway Fall. All novels published through Hideaway Fall are creative fiction that grab the attention of the reader and have unexpected twists in the plot. They stray away from sci’fi, romance novels and non-fiction, because as they state, they’re ‘not our bag’.Jonathan is active in the author community, and has spoken on multiple occasions in schools, colleges, prisons and universities about creative writing and storytelling and appeared at various literary festivals including Sheffield’s Off the Shelf and Doncaster’s Turn the Page festival.He is also a tireless campaigner for mental health awareness, which has led him to write regularly for the Huffington Post, the Big Issue and spoken at length on numerous occasions about his own personal struggle on the BBC and Radio Talk Europe.“Honest, unpredictable and deeply moving.” Milly Johnson Sunday Times Bestseller

M Jonathan Lee is a Yorkshire-based author and mental health awareness campaigner. He began writing seriously in 2006, shortly after the suicide of his brother, Simon, and his own struggle with anxiety and depression. It took nearly five years for Jonathan to write his first novel, The Radio - a black- comedy which deals with suicide which was shortlisted for the Novel Prize 2012 (for unpublished authors) and subsequently published in 2013. Jonathan campaigns tirelessly to remove the stigma associated with mental health problems and works closely with various mental health charities including Mind, Time to Change and Rethink, frequently blogs for the Huffington Post and is a regular guest on BBC Radio Sheffield talking about mental health. He regularly speaks in local schools and colleges on writing and mental health and is currently spearheading a local outreach project in which local churches provide assistance to those affected by anxiety and depression. Before writing full-time, Jonathan held a senior position in a FTSE100 company. He lives in Barnsley, Yorkshire, with his second wife, five children, two cats and a dog.