Jem Lester: ‘Letting your son go aged 11, knowing that he will never live with you again, is very difficult’

The former journalist on being the father of an autistic boy, whose condition has informed his debut novel, Shtum

Jem Lester is a former journalist and teacher of English and media studies. He is father to a severely autistic son, the experience of which led to the writing of his debut novel, Shtum.

Shtum follows a family struggling to cope with a severely autistic, mute 11-year-old boy, and trying to secure appropriate care for him in a residential home. How much of that was autobiographical?

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