Goodreads Ireland discussion

Thanks Emma

At times the antics were reminiscent of an episode of "Father Ted", and were equally as funny. Was that one of your inspirations?

The scene with the dog was hard to read. Was it equally harrowing to write? Do you have a pet dog?

Did you have any other play in mind for Mahoney to star in? Or was Playboy of the Western World the obvious choice?

I'm interested to know why you chose to make Orla's baby male? Many female writers would have gone for a girl child. I think you did an excellent job of writing from the male perspective :-)

Emma wrote: "Some questions for the author:

Who is Mahoney's father?
Will the book be turned into a series? I'd love to see what antics Mrs Cauley and Bridget Doosey can get up to."

Hi Emma,
Thank you for your question! I discussed this with a local book group finding that everyone wanted to know and had different ideas as to who it could be. As a reader I like things to be left a bit ambiguous – with a few things unsolved I find that books tend to resonate more and keep me thinking on the solutions. I'm not sure whether there will be a sequel carrying on from Mahony leaving town. But a few people have asked whether I would consider writing more about Mrs Cauley – I'd love to take her back in time and write about what made Mrs Cauley into the character we meet in Himself.

Margo wrote: "At times the antics were reminiscent of an episode of "Father Ted", and were equally as funny. Was that one of your inspirations?

The scene with the dog was hard to read. Was it equally harrowing ..."

Hi Margo,

I do love Father Ted and I would have to count it as an inspiration. There is a surreal quality to the humour that I love (the birds stealing Father Jack's glasses...). The dog scene was very harrowing to write – as a dog lover and now owner. I thought long and hard as to whether it was needful and felt I had to put it in. Because for me it's that pivotal moment when I realised that Jack really was unstoppable and in the linear scheme of things would go on to murder Orla.

Amalia wrote: "The use of the ghosts helping Mahoney with his search was innovative and fascinating! What inspired you to put them into the spotlight?"

Hi Amalia,

Thank you for your question. As a child I grew up with a fascination for ghosts and ghost stories. They felt very real in the stories I heard and I knew when I came to write the novel that I wanted to give them a job to do. I decided on a cast of living and dead characters – I felt it was important to give each dead character their own history and backstory too. When I knew I was writing a mystery/crime story it felt natural that they should help in some way. However, I had to put a few obstacles in the way (like forgetfulness!) otherwise I thought they could just give Mahony all the answers and then the whole thing would be wrapped up too quickly! I'm glad you enjoyed the ghosts!

Lorraine wrote: "Did you have any other play in mind for Mahoney to star in? Or was Playboy of the Western World the obvious choice?"

Hi Lorraine,

When I was in the early drafting stage I realised how many corresponding points there were between Mahony's story and the play. The setting (both in remote coastal villages), the plot (the stranger comes to town and changes everything) and also the use of comedy and violence. I had long loved the play and the way J M Synge used language – the extravagant language against a gritty reality. So I really wanted to bring it into the centre of the novel. I am fascinated by plays and the world of acting. I was also very influenced by Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas and the way it guides the listener or reader through a town – from the streets into the houses and even into the dreams of the characters to reveal all the lives being lived there. Which play would you have liked to see Mahony star in?

Margo wrote: "I'm interested to know why you chose to make Orla's baby male? Many female writers would have gone for a girl child. I think you did an excellent job of writing from the male perspective :-)"

Hi Margo,

Thank you so much! Both Mahony and the town appeared in a short story I wrote some time before I started the novel. The story was about a young man who lived in a twisted village and saw the dead. I also had Orla's situation in my mind and I made the connection between the two elements, feeling very strongly that Mahony was her son. I liked the way the main relationship in the novel – the friendship between Mrs Cauley and Mahony – worked. Although there are gender differences and the age gap they are still kindred spirits really. Both are anarchic and rebellious – but very loyal. I also hoped I would have some strong, core, female characters in Bridget Doosey and Mrs Cauley who were brilliant fun to write.

Thanks for all the answers Jess. What genre would you say your book is. I see I described it as "Miss Marple set in an Irish Brigadoon with a man who sees Dead (funny) People. "



I am also fascinated by the power and central power of Nature in the story and the way it even helps out at times. Is Mulderrig a pagan place in that it has such power over nature, weather and the dead?

Hi Maria,
I think your description of the book is brilliant. It's hard to pin one genre on the book – I wrote it at a time when I was researching cross-genre literature and I really wanted to try splicing mystery with magic realism. The way the town functions is central to this – the magical elements are provoked by Mahony's return but they are also embedded in the place itself. It's also a place of hidden secrets, I think the small town environment lends itself well to a crime or mystery story. During the planning stages I thought of Mrs Cauley as Miss Marple (frail but mentally sharp taking notice of everything around her) and Mahony as more of a hard-boiled detective character (a tough outsider, able to stand physical hardships).

I love your question about the central power of Nature in the story. This was very important for me as I was writing the book. I felt that the supernatural had to be embedded in the land and in nature. Nature is alive in terms of the storms and the swarming animals, the well erupting and the way the forest hides the baby. In a way nature erupts out of a town that suppresses everything – it can't be controlled or denied.
As a young child I was obsessed with the natural world and really did feel like it had magical qualities. I would tell myself stories about the landscape and the creatures that lived in it I suppose I wanted to bring some of this wonder into the book. Perhaps that link with the land does feel Pagan.