What do you miss most about Ireland’s past, and what do you not miss?
I miss the friendliness that was once part of us. Now, even here in our village, newcomers seem slightly apprehensive of responding to a smiling salutation such as “Good morning” or “Good night”. And I am allergic to that salutation “How are you?”, which is thrown at one like a blank dismissal by someone who does not have the slightest bit of interest in how you really are.
I do not miss the deference which was shown to people in authority. That, I feel, led to the creation of megalomaniacs and totally unacceptable behaviour from people in positions of authority.
You described yourself once as a winter writer, one who produces in fits and starts. Is that still the case?
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Unfortunately, yes! Because I am a gardener of sorts, the garden pleads with me to come out and keep it company in summer. Also, my head has to be overflowing with an idea before I sit down in front of the laptop.
You are a fan of John McGahern. Is he the greatest fictional chronicler of Irish rural life, or who else is up there?
Yes, John McGahern had it all. On first reading The Dark many years ago, I was totally intrigued by it. My favourite John McGahern book would be Amongst Women. I heard him once say that a book only comes alive in the hands of the reader.
Also up there would be Patrick Kavanagh in both his poetry and his prose. Tarry Flynn and The Green Fool really captured the guts of rural Ireland. His love-hate relationship with the land could be understood by anyone reared on a farm.
You originally planned to give your children a photocopy of the manuscript that became To School Through the Fields, but then you approached Brandon and it sold more than 200,000 copies. Quench the Lamp has sold more than 120,000. How do you account for their success?
As John McGahern observed, a book comes alive in the hands of the reader. I think that many readers found themselves in those two books. They were reading my writing, but among the pages I disappeared and they found their own story.
The Irish mother is almost a stereotype. Your new book, The Nana, celebrates her mother, the Irish grandmother. Tell me about it, and your own grandmothers, and what becoming a grandmother has taught you.
The Nana is a tribute to those women who influenced our mothers’ lives who in turn made us who we are. The maternal genes are very influential. My two grandmothers were the first generation to be born in Ireland after the Famine. So they were reared in hard times. My paternal Nana had died before I was born but a picture of her hung in our parlour and this made her a living presence in our family. My maternal Nana lived close to us, and she was a force of nature and not to be taken lightly. Becoming a grandmother opened my eyes to the responsibilities of parenthood.
Have you ever gone on a literary pilgrimage?
I’m not sure if Listowel Writers Week would term themselves as a literary pilgrimage! But any time I went there, I loved it and learned a lot.
Becoming a grandmother opened my eyes to the responsibilities of parenthood
What is the best writing advice you have heard? Or: what advice would you give to your younger writing self?
Believe in yourself. Enjoy the journey!
Which of your books are you proudest of, and why?
And Time Stood Still. This is a book on bereavement and many people have told me that it helped them through a tough patch. And isn’t that what life is all about?
Who do you admire the most?
The overworked loyal priests continuing to minister in all our parishes. Many of them, well past the first flush of youth, are still triple-jobbing.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
A law to airlift Mr Putin, and the Taliban leaders, to the Dzogchen Beara Buddhist Centre in West Cork for a month. A law to ordain women priests and married men.
What current book, film, TV show and podcast would you recommend?
The book Wounds by Fergal Keane.
Which public event affected you most?
The Queen and Mary McAleese on the night of the state banquet. Together they poulticed old wounds.
The most remarkable place you have visited?
Crater Lake in Oregon.
Your most treasured possession?
My electric blanket!
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
A family album compiled by my daughter for my 80th birthday.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Fergal Keane. Maeve Binchy. Patrick Kavanagh.
The best and worst things about where you live?
I love where I live. The village of Innishannon is in the beautifully wooded valley of the Bandon river which is wonderful. But because we are on the main road to west Cork, non-stop traffic is a bit of a pain.
What is your favourite quotation?
“To eat were best at home; From thence, the sauce to meat is company; Meeting were dull without it” Lady Macbeth.
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Kya from Where the Crawdads Sing
A book to make me laugh?
I Laugh To Think by John D Sheridan.
A book to move me to tears?
The Beekeeper of Aleppo.
The Nana by Alice Taylor is published by O’Brien Press
