SEBASTIAN BEAUMONT’S new book ‘The lost sessions’, a dark story of the psyche exploring the cerebral and supernatural, is set to be released on March 22.
‘The lost sessions’ tells of Will, a psychotherapist journeying into the surreal after being knocked off his bike and recovering from the resulting concussion.
He finds himself in a vortex of shifting realities at the centre of which is Emma, a young woman determined to secure Will has her therapist who claims to be dead.
Most of this psycho-supernatural story is set in London but Beaumont draws upon his Scottish upbringing setting significant parts of the backstory in Dumfriesshire, Edinburgh and the Cairngorms.
The concept of what it means to be Scottish is explored throughout.
‘The lost sessions’ follows Beaumont’s other surrealist books, ‘Thirteen’ and ‘The juggler’. Conceived as a triptych each novel is a stand-alone in its own right.
In each, the protagonist must undertake a journey through their own self-awareness to emerge unscathed from their predicament.
‘The lost sessions’ will explore the transcendental position, posing the question- what happens when Egoic ‘me’ is absent?
Beaumont commented on what readers may learn about their psyche from the book: “The idea of ‘being in control’ is a recipe for suffering. Let life seduce you into living – and being lived.
“If we give ourselves up to life it will reward us with an ever-unfolding adventure. It will challenge us, reward us, and change us for the better.”
Beaumont, originally from Annan, Dumfriesshire, was a storyteller from a young age, writing long dramatic essays at boarding school, the dark themes of which worried his English teacher.
Beaumont studied fine art at university until realising he could articulate his thoughts better in words than paint, changing his course to a major in creative writing.
He later trained as a psychotherapeutic counsellor and now works in a private practice in Brighton. He is already working on his next novel.
