Tell me about your new novel, The Glass House
It’s about two sisters seeking freedom from the long shadow of their father’s infamy, a philosopher with Nazi sympathies; and how 30 years later they must return to their childhood home in Galway to face this past. I wanted to write a really involving mystery with big ideas.
It is set in two periods, 1963 and 1999. Did that present particular challenges?
The challenge in weaving the past and present together is always complex. The characters review their own histories to some extent too, which adds to the layers. But these sisters lived in a house full of secrets and in returning to their home in 1999 they have no choice but to confront and unmask the past.
Your debut novel, The Temple House Vanishing, set in a gothic boarding school, was likened to The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Secret History. It also explores a long-ago mystery. Tell us more
I try to create a distinct universe when I write, it’s what I want as a reader, so the hothouse boarding school environment lent itself to that. In it a student’s disappearance in 1990 is explored in two timelines against the backdrop of Catholic religion, lust and repression. I see the novel as being part of a long tradition of boarding-school tales and I was particularly inspired by Picnic at Hanging Rock and its unsettling atmosphere and tension.
The Beauty of Impossible Things (2021) was also about a young girl, a coming-of-age tale. Are formative years an attractive thing to write about?
Yes, I like the rawness of that time. Set in a rackety seaside town, this book is set over one hot summer, and told from the perspective of Natasha, who has premonitions of the future. She becomes both lionised and feared in her community, leading to disastrous consequences. It is a coming-of-age novel but actually it’s the tragic mother who haunts me.
The three books form a loose trilogy on the theme of the end of innocence?
Yes, I think you’re right. They are all about a fall from grace in a way.
Your novels have been described as literary mysteries. Is that how you see them?
I think my novels are character-driven but I also like it when something happens, and there is a question to answer. They are probably why-done-its.
How important was winning the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award in 2017?
Very. I secured an agent, and from that a publishing deal.
[ Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year: Rachel Donohue's winning storyOpens in new window ]
Does being a relatively late starter as a writer instil a sense of urgency?
A sense of mortality kicked me to the desk. I needed to write to tell my children something about what I thought of the world, leave a marker for when I was gone.
Which projects are you working on?
A short ghost story.
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
I went to Charles Dickens House in London and spent a while staring at the desk where he wrote Great Expectations. I also followed the Brontë trail through beautiful countryside in Co Down.
What is the best writing advice you have heard?
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” André Gide
Who do you admire the most?
Young people. They face an unsettled world, again.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
I would abolish the role of supreme ruler.
Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
Podcast: Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud. She interviews people about their attitudes to fashion. The conversation becomes quite intimate and her guests are standout.
Which public event affected you most?
It was twilight on a warm summer’s night in Fiesole in Italy and there were candles and tealights laid out on the doorsteps of each of the houses on the narrow streets. I followed them to the town square where people were singing hymns, celebrating a religious feast day; the candles were like breadcrumbs in a fairy story.
[ Icarus, a short story by Rachel DonohueOpens in new window ]
The most remarkable place you have visited?
Florence. I wrote about the city in The Glass House.
Your most treasured possession?
A small sculpture of a head in profile by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor. A family friend let him work at the end of their garden, near the Phoenix Park. He repaid them with small works.
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
Dubliners by James Joyce, with illustrations by Louis le Brocquy. Published by Lilliput Press in 2003.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Umberto Eco, JG Ballard, Angela Carter, Maeve Brennan, Olivia Laing, Sally Rooney, Patricia Highsmith and James Baldwin.
The best and worst things about where you live?
I wish the bus stop was nearer, but I love the trees and fields around me.
What is your favourite quotation?
“We must love one another or die” – WH Auden.
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Lily Bart in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
A book to make me laugh?
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris.
A book that might move me to tears?
Modern Nature by Derek Jarman.
The Glass House is published by Corvus
