Tell us about your debut novel, The Marriage Vendetta, a (loose) modern retelling of the doomed relationship between the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his talented wife Eliza.
When Eliza is sent a suggestive photo of her husband Richard with another woman, she turns to a renegade therapist for help. But Eliza has no idea just how far that therapist is willing to go to get results ...
It has undergone a lot of changes since the first draft. Tell us about it.
I initially wrote the story of Eliza and Richard as a historical novel. When it got rejected by most major publishers, twice, I set it aside. A few years, and another unpublished novel, later, I came back to the idea and decided to rewrite it from scratch.
I transported the characters to a modern Dublin setting and added just a smidge (okay, a healthy dose) of female rage. It took years, but the result was The Marriage Vendetta, which attracted multiple offers from publishers and sold at auction.
Your publisher has likened it to How to Kill Your Family, Sorrow and Bliss, Motherland and Bad Sisters. Were some or all touchstones in writing the book?
Sorrow and Bliss was a big influence, especially after I read an interview with its author Meg Mason, who had this to say about writing: “The learning for me, at 41, was if you apply this violent tenacity, there will be some reward at the end.” This idea of “violent tenacity” helped me to weather the rejections. And she was right: there was a reward at the end.
[ Bella Mackie ‘It’s a fantasy, no woman is allowed to be like this anyway’Opens in new window ]
You’re a bit of a whizz at social media. How important is it for a writer to promote their own work?
I’m still not sure if my marketing attempts on Instagram will pay off in terms of book sales, but a surprise bonus has been all the lovely writers I’ve gotten to know from around the world. I can only hope I’m not being catfished.
You’ve started 10 novels, finished three and had three agents. Tell us about the long and winding road to publication.
After many years of rejection, my luck turned when I created a female protagonist seething with quiet resentment. It seemed to resonate with a lot of editors.
You’re a former Irish Times journalist. Is reporting good training for writing a novel?
Absolutely. I learned how to secretly work on my novels while looking like I was writing stock market reports.
Which projects are you working on?
I’m working on a novel called The Village, set in a secretive, radical feminist community designed specifically to support mothers and children. It asks the question: what would women be willing to do to protect a female-centric utopia?
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
Several. The most memorable was a trip to the Jane Austen Festival in Bath with a wonderful journalist friend. We took part in a (successful!) world record attempt for the biggest gathering of people dressed in historical costume. I should have kept the bonnet as proof.
Who do you admire the most?
The 19-year-old autistic author Roisín Coyne from Kildare. Roisin is an icon for young neurodiverse people and the most inspiring person I’ve ever met.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
Every member of Ireland’s family law system would have to read Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell, and the two titles by Don Hennessy referred to in the acknowledgements of her novel.
Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
Nightbitch, both the book and the film. Renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel’s podcast Where Should We Begin?
Which public event affected you most?
The Belfast rape trial. The murder of Ashling Murphy. The Gisèle Pelicot mass rape trial. The Conor McGregor rape case. The re-election of Donald Trump.
The most remarkable place you have visited?
A little spot in Wicklow so special that it inspired the location for my next novel. Exact location: classified.
Your most treasured possession?
My copy of The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. I return to it every time I need my head straightened out. So, quite regularly.
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
The gorgeously illustrated Women Living Deliciously by Florence Given
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Alba de Cespedes. PG Wodehouse. Ottessa Moshfegh. Rosita Sweetman. Two great Longfordians: Maria Edgeworth and Belinda McKeon. And Jilly Cooper, to get the party started.
The best and worst things about where you live?
The best thing about Malahide, Co Dublin is the sea. The worst? It’s not Longford.
What is your favourite quotation?
“A woman with a clean house will never have a finished novel.” When I read that quote, I realised I just might make it as a writer. After all, I already had the messy house.
Who is your favourite fictional character?
It used to be Jane Eyre but since reading The Wide Sargasso Sea, I’ve switched to Mr Rochester’s “mad” wife in the attic. Far more interesting.
A book to make me laugh?
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis – who would have thought that a novel about rehabilitating Isis brides could be so funny?
A book that might move me to tears?
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy. How sad it is that this novel is an entirely accurate depiction of modern motherhood.
The Marriage Vendetta by Caroline Madden is published by Eriu
