Today we talk about Sholly Knot, a book by Maxine Layton published with our Publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author, Maxine Layton, to get to know her better, what prompted her to the writing of her book Sholly Knot, as well as how she felt to see her book published.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What prompted you to the writing of your book?
Sholly Knot began from a place of observation and quiet reflection. I’ve always been drawn to the complexities in people the things we don’t say, the emotional knots that we carry and the patterns we repeat without realising. The idea grew out of wanting to explore these hidden tensions. I am interested in how connections form, how they tighten and how sometimes they can suffocate rather than support. Writing the book felt like untangling something layered and uncomfortable, but necessary. It isn’t just about telling a story., it is about examining what binds us, even when we don’t fully understand why.
- What characteristics should your audience have to appreciate your book?
I think readers who appreciate psychological depth will connect most with Sholly Knot. It’s not a surface level story. It asks the reader to look closely at behaviour, motivation and emotional undercurrents. It will resonate with people who are comfortable sitting in ambiguity and tension and who enjoy questioning what is real versus what is perceived. Anyone who has ever felt caught in a situation that felt impossible to untangle may find something familiar within the pages.
- What messages did you want to convey with your book?
At its core, Sholly Knot explores the consequences of unresolved emotional patterns. I want to show how silence, denial and buried trauma don’t disappear they tighten. The book looks at how people become entangled in cycles, sometimes without recognising their role in them. It questions responsibility, perception and the damage that can quietly accumulate over time. More than anything, it suggests that what we ignore doesn’t vanish, It waits.
- How did it feel to see your book published?
Seeing Sholly Knot published is both grounding and surreal. Writing is such an internal process private, often uncertain. Holding the finished book has made it real in a way that felt both validating and humbling. There’s pride in completing something that demanded persistence, but there’s also a sense of release. Once it’s published, it no longer belongs solely to me. It belongs to the reader and their interpretation, that transition is very powerful.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
Yes, I’m currently working on the sequel titled Sholly Knot: Spawned. While Sholly Knot explored emotional entanglement and the complexity of human connection, Spawned moves into much darker psychological territory. It examines what happens when unresolved damage isn’t confronted when it begins to surface in new and more disturbing forms. The characters in this instalment are closely connected to what came before. In many ways, they are the consequences of it. Without giving too much away, the story delves into fractured identity, distorted perception and a thin line between sanity and instability. The psychological tension is sharper and the stakes are higher.
Europe Books thanks the author, Maxine Layton, once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Sholly Knot. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, may this book challenge your ability to manage emotions, not deny them, but embrace them, in order to prevent the formation of recurring emotional patterns from which you can’t escape.
So, my dear readers, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your Editor!