‘May’ by Naomi Krüger is set over the course of a single day.

It moves through the decades, weaving together the lives of May’s family and the woman who cares for her at the nursing home.

The door to the past is locked, though fragments of memory remain. Dementia means that May can’t piece together the past or make sense of the present, but she can revisit what she knows again and again.

The idea for ‘May’ and the author’s interest in memory and representations of dementia followed a visit to a family friend in the early stages of dementia who remembered things about Naomi’s own life that she had forgotten.

Naomi has an MA and PhD (2011 to 2014) from Lancaster University, where she also worked as an associate Lecturer in the Department of English and Creative Writing for four years.

The debut novel (published by Seren March 12) was written as part of her PhD in English and Creative Writing.

“My time at Lancaster University was a big part of the writing process and developing my confidence as a writer,” says Naomi, who lives in Preston with her husband and daughter.

“My PhD supervisors consistently challenged me to experiment and gave me much needed encouragement and support.”

Naomi’s short stories have been published in various literary journals and her first novel manuscript was highly commended in the Yeovil Literary Prize 2014.

She lectures in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Central Lancashire where she researches representations of cognitive impairment in fiction as well as working on new writing projects.

She is also the co-creative director of North West Literary Arts, an organization facilitating events and community projects in Lancashire.

An official launch ceremony for the novel will take place on April 28 at Waterstones, King St, Lancaster.