For years, Mitchell Hadley has been a trusted guide through the nostalgic landscapes of our screens, celebrated as an astute entertainment historian. But on June 16, 2016, Hadley turned a sharp corner, pivoting from the collective memory of television to the deeply intimate, fractured geography of the human heart.
His latest novel, The Book of Revelations, marks a definitive shift in his career.
“It has nothing to do with television whatsoever,” Hadley shared in a recent interview, reflecting on his evolution. “But I’m making the transition complete to become a fiction author primarily, while still doing the TV.”
If his history work looks outward at what entertains us, his fiction looks inward at what sustains us. The Book of Revelations is not a light read, nor does it pretend to be. It is a raw, unvarnished exploration of childhood trauma and its decades-long echo. Yet, beneath the grit, Hadley insists there is a beacon of hope.
“More importantly, I think there’s a message in it that can resonate,” Hadley says. “It’s a very rough story, at times harsh and not very pleasant, but there is a message that comes through in the story of a young woman dealing with a childhood trauma. If readers remember only one thing about Nan’s journey, I hope it would be this: the things that happen to us do not have to become the things that define us.”
A Mosaic of Fractured Identities
At the center of this sweeping, multi-decade narrative is Nan, a woman trying to outrun a tragedy she mistakenly believes is her fault. In a desperate bid for reinvention, she sheds her identity like old coats—Nan becomes Robin, Robin becomes Nancy, Nancy becomes Ellen. New names, new cities, new lives.
But as Hadley masterfully demonstrates, the past is a stubborn hitchhiker.
The novel unfolds in a unique, fractured format. The story of Nan’s life is told through a rotating chorus of perspectives: a marriage quietly unraveling, grandparents attempting a clean break, a teacher offering a structure that cannot hold, a protective waitress, and a poet offering temporary shelter. Each voice holds a mere shard of the mirror; none possesses the whole image.
The backdrop—a suffocatingly precise 1965 suburban world—is frozen in time. Inside it, three place settings gather dust, holiday cards whisper reversed greetings, and a cracked mirror splinters the light. It is a world where everyone is performing “normal” while something beneath the surface is violently cracking.
Ultimately, Nan’s journey is not about erasing the scars but learning how to live with them. At its heart, the novel is a meditation on survival, forgiveness, and the profound realization that healing begins when we finally allow ourselves to be known by others, rather than carrying our heavy burdens in isolation.
Critical Acclaim for The Book of Revelations
The literary community has met Hadley’s fiction debut with glowing praise, celebrating both his stylistic risks and his deep empathy.
“Emotionally complex literary fiction that is exceptionally well written and uniquely formatted.” — Jamie Michele, Readers’ Favorite (★★★★★)
“Haunting, layered, and exquisitely crafted... a luminous mosaic of shifting voices and identities.” — NewInBooks
“A strong, risky read from an author who clearly gives a damn.” — Strange Girl Book Reviews
“The matter-of-fact statements about even the saddest of circumstances subtly communicate the detachment that trauma can cause.” — CJ Simone, author of the “Children of the Mob” series
“I love your prose. Your pace. Your voice...The way Nancy measures her one allowed cigarette, the way Nan talks to her stuffed monkey about secrets... Just beautiful.” — Advance Reading Copy (ARC) Reviewer
With The Book of Revelations, Mitchell Hadley proves that his storytelling prowess extends far beyond the small screen, cementing his place as a powerful new voice in contemporary literary fiction.
[To discover more about the novel, read excerpts, or purchase your copy, visit the author’s official website at mitchellhadley.com.]
Thank you so much, Herbie, for this wonderful article!