Briefly tell us about your book.
Family Matters is set in Ireland, it’s the story of one family, three generations, four women all at different crossroads in their lives. They’re trying to make sense of parenthood, financial difficulties, old age and love, all within the safety net of a messy, loving family.
What inspired the idea behind this book?
I was exploring the idea of matchmaking as a theme for a story. The matriarch character in Family Matters, Evie McCarthy, literally wouldn’t leave me alone. She was talking to me all the time, but she wasn’t the profile that I wanted to feature in this book, I wanted to write about a matchmaking app not a seventy-nine-year old woman. So, I figured if I sit down to write her, she might go away, and let me get on with the book I was planning to write, but she wanted to introduce me to her daughter and granddaughters. And it turned out her granddaughter was working on a matchmaking app and Evie herself was a matchmaker. Funny how it all knitted together eventually!
Family Matters features four very different women, facing their own unique challenges. Did you identify with any particular character in the family?
I identify with all four women in different ways, but I have personal experience of Molly’s story. She’s a stay-at-home mum, who is overwhelmed, grieving her previous life and looking for holes in this one. When I became a mum I was shattered physically and emotionally and devastated that I’d lost my freedom and who I used to be. The overnight transition of becoming a mum was hard, and I think it’s okay to feel that way and still love your kids and your partner. It can just take time.
Matchmaking is a recurring theme in the novel – both old fashioned and in the digital age. Did you do any research into the history of match making?
Yes, my previous novel, The Right Girl, is centered around an app, when researching that I started getting interested in matchmaking algorithms and fell down a matchmaking hole. It’s fascinating how something as magical as love is promised through science. It’s an evolution of what most cultures and countries already have from India, Japan, Korea, the Jewish culture there is a history of matchmaking and an actual matchmaker. In Ireland a village matchmaker was a much respected and revered member of the community up until the 1950’s. I think there’ll always be a need to help people find love.
What’s some great advice you’ve received that has helped you as a writer?
To go easy on myself. Nobody is as critical of my writing as me, so I do my very best to be kind to myself and hush those harsh voices up.
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