The intensity of a personal relationship is laid bare in an interesting debut novel, The Malady Of Love, by Rickmansworth writer Sierra Xavier. Penned under a pseudonym by a 43-year-old mental health counsellor, the book takes the form of passages of reflective dialogue from a man and a woman – the author uses italics to differentiate between the sexes, but there are no passages of description, just the thoughts and feelings one conveys to the other.

“I wanted the same voice for both characters – the difference was the content of their life story,“ says Sierra. “I didn’t want to write a traditional novel and include how they dress, sit and other background details. My intent from the start to do something different and experiment. I did an immense amount of drafts because I had to get the nuances of what they were saying right – there was so much emotional psychological landscape involved.“

Sierra says the text was born from his desire to experiment with literary forms. Born in East Africa, Sierra moved to England at the age of three and lived in Ealing before moving to Rickmansworth eight years ago. He recalls his school days where the set texts failed to fire his imagination, but as an adult he began dipping into the classics and soon became an avid reader. He began writing as a hobby.

“I wrote it in Caffe Nero in Rickmansworth,“ says Sierra. “I started writing two years ago and showed drafts to Harrow Writers Circle, but most of the people there wrote conventionally, which was not what I wanted to do.

I’ve read classic literature from Homer to Hardy and each century has a different style and pattern of voice. I had a vision of how I want to write and it didn’t include all the different ways to describe a sky – sometimes I get a bit bored with that. Most people research landscapes and environments, I research emotions and feelings.“

These waves of emotion are charted with intricate care from that first flush of excitement when the characters realise their affection is reciprocated through to the anguish and detestation when a relationship fails, leaving just guilt and fear in its wake. Sierra puts his couple through some extreme experiences to exaggerate this loss.

His book looks at subjects such as prenatal death, miscarriage and abortion, none of which make for easy reading.

“I wanted to explore the parent/child attachment from the male point of view – the mother and child bond we take for granted but what about a father’s attachment to his unborn child? I did extensive research and found there are very few books on men’s reactions to miscarriage and abortion. I researched both the female and male side to get a balanced view of things.“

Sierra tells me he was not prepared for the emotional cost of this research.

“The sources I looked at were often unsettling and I had to stop writing for a while.“

This desire to delve into the innermost workings of the mind is in keeping with a man who studied for a psychology degree as well as a diploma in counselling, though Sierra is quick to stress his characters are in no way based on any of his clients. He feels strongly that counsellors should not just talk theory but get to grips with people’s needs.

“Experience counts more than qualifications. Bereavement, abuse, work and stress – when people are talking about their problems, you need to understand the depth of people’s emotions and their fears to be able to respond to what they say.“

In his book, the two characters divulge their deepest hopes and fears, repeating the same phrases to one another in a cyclical rhythm. The current of their shared words has a hypnotic and calming effect. In essence it is a meditation on emotion, tracing the arc of a love affair.

“It starts out with two people as a unit and then when they focus on themselves as individuals, things start to break apart. I didn’t want to appear judgemental but to trace how two people pull apart and react. It’s like children saying – ’you did this to me, so I’m doing this to you’.“

The Malady of Love is published by Matador, price £13.99, www.sierra-ernesto-xavier.com