MY LIFE IN BOOKS: PATRICIA GIBNEY
Patricia Gibney is the bestselling author of the DI Lottie Parker series. Her novel, The Stolen Girls, was shortlisted for The Ryan Tubridy Show Listeners’ Choice Award at the Irish Book Awards 2018. Her latest book, Broken Souls, is published by Sphere.
The books on your bedside?
My next read is Home Stretch by Graham Norton. I read A Keeper over Christmas and loved it so I am looking forward to delving into another of his. I also have The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman to finish. It is a delightful read.
The first book you remember?
I was a reader from a very young age but the earliest books I remember falling in love with were Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five and the Nancy Drew series. My love of mystery and detecting were embedded in my being from a very young age!
Your book of the year?
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker. It is a crime novel and the character of Duchess Radley will stay with you long after you turn the last page. It looks at good and evil and how life is lived somewhere between.
Your favourite literary character?
Magwitch from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I first read this for my Inter Cert and was captivated by the story and characterisation. The more I read it, the more intrigued I was by Magwitch and how he was developed by Dickens. It demonstrated mystery and intrigue and how to develop a character who is not who he seems, something I love doing in my books.
The book that changed your life?
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron helped me through a difficult period in my life. It restored my creativity and focus... It has inspired many other self-help books but to me it remains my number one go-to. It advocates the Morning Pages (three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning), which got me writing and restored meaning to my life.
The book you couldn’t finish?
I try to finish every book I start. I know what it takes to write and produce a finished book so I owe it to the author to at least read it to the end.
Your Covid comfort read?
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. This book transported me into another world, the town of Barkley Cove and the marshes in North Carolina. Kya Clarke is a unique character and reminds us that we are shaped by the children we once were... It offered me an escape from the Covid world I was living through.
The book you give as a present?
In 2020 the one I gave most was The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. A book of drawings with motivational quotes in story form, it’s particularly apt for the last year when our world was condensed into our own homes and it continues to offer little gems of wisdom today.
The writer who shaped you?
As an avid reader of all genres, in particular crime and thriller, I find it hard to pinpoint one — PD James and Colin Dexter would have influenced me greatly along with Patricia Cornwell, Harlan Coben, Val McDermid and Ian Rankin.
The book you would most like to be remembered for?
My debut, The Missing Ones, because through writing this book I found a sense of purpose when all else failed in a particularly dark period in my life. When my husband died, I could no longer do the job I’d loved for over 25 years. I found the process of writing to be therapeutic and I accumulated a lot of words. I decided to put them to good use in a novel form, never once believing the journey on which The Missing Ones would propel me. It is a story influenced by a horrific time in our recent history and resonated with a lot of readers.