KC Teacher’s debut supernatural thriller addresses slavery, compliance, and complex literary history

Teacher and Novelist Matthew Reed Williams with a copy of Somewhere. // Photo Courtesy of Matthew Reed Williams

Local author Matthew Reed Williams‘ debut novel Somewhere is hitting the shelves this week. The supernatural thriller is based in Missouri and explores complex themes such as slavery, different racial perspectives in literature, and compliance. The Kansas City-based writer and teacher knew he had a story worth sharing some odd years ago while on a family outing in Weston, MO.

“I began writing this in late 2021,” Williams says. “I’m a teacher. We were just coming out of the pandemic. There was a lot of unrest with the protests. I felt this book could be an examination of some of my own cultural values and being in a place that I love, while also recognizing the complexity of the place I grew up.”

The eerie page-turner certainly does put a spotlight on both the charms and drawbacks of a rural town. Williams’ Somewhere eloquently exposes the harms of compliance in the face of adversity through a stunning plot twist—The author expertly turning the table on the reader, perhaps revealing one’s own compliance in today’s political and racial climate.

“Growing up, I was a huge fantasy reader. I read Narnia and Lord of the Rings, and these come from very Western and European traditions, and I still loved them. But at the same time that these works were written, some very ugly things were happening in the states and elsewhere,” says the teacher-turned-writer. 

Through his protagonist’s love interest, Rose, the teacher shares how her acts throughout the novel mirror these complexities and demonstrate compliance. A character who is a vehicle for self-fulfillment, Rose has secrets of her own in Somewhere, and despite her sincerity for this novel’s leading man, contributes to the unforeseen consequences of the town’s wicked past. 

“This is a character that even at the end doesn’t seem all bad, but she knew, and she was part of it,” Williams says.. 

It is Williams’ keen awareness which strikes me the most. His carefulness in approaching the juxtaposition between these whimsical stories and the ugly historical events happening alongside their publications underscores the importance of a book like Somewhere. The sensitivity brought to our conversation is considerable, and the novelist’s intentions are clear in his story. The KC teacher doesn’t waste any time hooking his readers, either, foreshadowing this year’s “spooky season” through unnatural occurrences in Somewhere.

“For now, I wasn’t a direction-less college grad; I wasn’t known. I was just me, Lee Thompson. I felt free, and more adult in a way, like I was carving out a place that was my own. I couldn’t be claimed on my parents’ taxes; I had found a job and an apartment by stumbling somehow into this backcountry paradise, a place I would have never believed existed in Missouri. But there I was, like I was meant to be there.

I was meant to be there.”

The educator goes on to talk about hunky dory Weston, Missouri—the inspiration for the setting in his book. Weston—a small community northwest of Kansas City—is beloved for its familiar small-town charm and quirky events, like their upcoming Applefest. While on a family outing with his wife and daughters, Williams recognized the specialness of a space like Weston and that’s when his idea was born.

“Being in this beautiful place, I wondered what if it wasn’t real?” the author says. 

Williams’ official book launch is this Thursday, Oct. 10 at Main Street Coffee House in Independence.