‘Lyrical and raw’: Memoir triggered by London Bridge terror attack

OUT NOW: The cover of Vicky Foster’s book. Picture credit: Bloomsbury

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

A literary memoir by Hull writer Vicky Foster is being published today.

It Happened Like This charts a past Vicky thought she had escaped until she was forced to confront it again by the London Bridge terrorist attack in 2019.

Introducing the book, publisher Bloomsbury said: “A searing, inventive memoir that interrogates misogyny, heroism and women’s power in an often-unsafe world through the lens of Vicky’s Foster’s own traumatic background.

MEMOIR: Vicky Foster. Picture by Jerome Whittingham

“How do you get close to people when the people close to you keep shattering your world? Vicky Foster thought she’d finally escaped violence when her abusive ex-partner was murdered. Vicky was 25.

“She tried to draw a line under the past and move on with her life. This meant overcoming PTSD, trusting people again, building her career and, ultimately, learning to return to herself.

“But, 16 years later, the past came crashing down on her when one of her ex-partner’s murderers hit the headlines – this time, as the ‘hero’ of the 2019 London Bridge terrorist attack.

“Lyrical and raw, It Happened Like This is a book about misogyny in all its forms, about heroism and villainy, about class and the climate of neglect created by austerity. But most importantly, it’s a book about women and their power, explored through the prism of Vicky’s story.”

Creative in form and with a non-linear narrative, the book has a cast list that includes Boris Johnson, two Hull MPs, and frequent visits from a familial ghost. It also has a diverse range in tone and voice, from court transcripts to posts by social media users.

Vicky began writing the book in 2020 and submitted the first part of it as part of her masters degree at Hull University in September 2021. Her agent sent that extract to publishers and Bloomsbury bought it within a week. The writing was completed early last year.

Vicky said: “It’s exciting to be at publication day. After working for so long, it feels like I’m letting the book go now. I just hope people read it and enjoy it and get something from it.”

Vicky is an award-winning writer, performer and poet and also writes about arts and culture for The Hull Story.

She won The Society of Authors’ Imison Award at the 2020 BBC Audio Drama Awards for her Radio 4 play Bathwater, and her Radio 4 documentary, Can I Talk About Heroes? was reviewed across national media.

• It Happened Like This is published in hardback and costs £16.99.