Fall River meets fiction: 'The Moonlight Club' shines light on addiction struggles

FALL RIVER — Welcome to Heavenside.

That’s the setting of a new novel, “The Moonlight Club: King’s Chronicles,” by local author T.J. Silva.

Set in a fictionalized version of Fall River, called Heavenside, “The Moonlight Club” tells the story of Brayden King, a young man whose parents suffer from substance abuse problems. From a young age, Brayden takes it upon himself to take care of his little sister so that they don’t go hungry. He turns to selling drugs in his late teens, and soon finds himself caught up in a world of violence, with disastrous consequences for himself and the people he loves.

“There are so many things that so many people go through in this world that I wanted to try my hardest to shine light on, whether it be drug addiction, living in poverty, coping with mental illness and all other types of things,” Silva said.

Silva, 29, grew up in Fall River. When he was growing up, both of his parents struggled with opioid addiction and his sister, just 16 years old at the time, “had to pretty much raise” him.

“Unfortunately, my father ended up passing away from an overdose three years ago, but my mother was fortunately able to get clean and has been sober for over the past 10 years,” Silva said.

After being held back a few times, Silva dropped out of school at 16, but “I quickly realized I needed an education and ended up taking prep classes and getting my GED at Bristol Community College,” he told The Herald News.

Today, he works at Bristol as a maintainer, doing the sort of work that keeps a place up and running: janitorial work, keeping up with the property and setting up for events, among other duties.

Silva said he’s been on the job “for a little over three years now and absolutely love[s] working here.”

It was on his breaks at work that “The Moonlight Club” came together, though he’s had a passion for creative writing from a very young age.

“I fell in love with the craft of writing immediately once I learned how to use a pencil in grade school,” he said.

Some familiar Fall River names appear in the book, as well as some local landmarks, like the battleship, and the bridge that leads to and from Heavenside.

The Braga Bridge is on the book cover, designed by Dwayne Pina.

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Other nearby cities are mentioned too, like New Bedford and Providence.

“The environment I grew up in and the people who I have met and talked to over the years were my biggest inspiration for 'The Moonlight Club,'” Silva said.

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And this is just the beginning.

The Moonlight Club will be a series.

“I’m planning on releasing at least three books for this series, maybe even more,” Silva said.

And he’s hard at work on the next installment.

“I am currently working on book two of The Moonlight Club, which will be subtitled ‘From Poverty To Parvenue,’ and it will be taking place six years after the events of ‘King’s Chronicles.’ If all goes as planned, it should be out around the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023.”

“The Moonlight Club” is available in both e-book and paperback editions.

Herald News/Taunton Daily Gazette copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: The Moonlight Club by TJ Silva tackles addiction, poverty