About the author…

Caroline O’Donoghue

She was raised in Cork, Ireland, and now lives in London. She has an awardwinning podcast, Sentimental Garbage, and also writes fiction for teenagers and a newspaper column. This is her third adult novel.

This novel was inspired by…

I drew a lot of inspiration from my last years in Cork before I emigrated to London. My relationship with my friend Ryan, my job in retail, my general sense that the old world, this rich middle-class Ireland, was over forever. But on a more artistic level, I was hugely inspired by a crop of coming-of-age novels that were mostly written by boomer women. Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy; Le Divorce by Diane Johnson and Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido.

The most challenging thing about writing it was…

The time limit! I was on deadline for another novel that wasn’t working, so I made an eleventh-hour decision to switch onto a brand-new project. I didn’t tell anyone except my agent. I figured if I simply gave my publishers a book, even if it wasn’t the one they were expecting, they’d let me get away with it if it was good enough. In a way, this gave me a huge sense of clarity and agility while writing it.

My writing habits are…

My work seems to be at its best when I’m living as simply as possible. Up at eight; yoga; work for a few hours; dog walk; work for another few hours. Then maybe a swim, dinner and TV or video games. It’s a real pain because I’m a hugely social person and really love to go out. I love attention. I love public speaking, which I realise makes me a freak. I have to work to balance those two sides of my personality and be careful that one doesn’t overtake the other.