Author of Cross on his novel set against the IRA ceasefire, ideology, empathy and the influence of his job as a doctor on his writing
Austin Duffy: 'As a doctor... you have no empathy, it’s a disastrous situation. And similarly, with writing – if you don’t have empathy, the book is going to be crap, isn’t it?' Photograph: Marc O'Sullivan
The members of the community in Cross who we meet in the book include old-school Marxist republicans like Francie, who at the start of the book has authorised the murder of a policeman, and Handy Byrne, a loose cannon even by terrorist standards; the widow Donnelly, who’s mourning the absence of her “disappeared” son; and Cathy Murphy, a Protestant whose brother is the “son of a tout”.
But although it’s Duffy’s fourth novel, Cross’s genesis predates the publication of his debut in 2016. “I came across a notebook recently where the first line was written, in 2010. And I was living in America then, and I never thought I’d be home. And maybe it’s an age thing but I was very attracted to that era, because I was coming of age then.” Duffy was born in 1974. “We’re coming into our prime!” he laughs when I tell him I’m a year older.
The novel is written in a seductive style, alternating almost stream-of-consciousness internal monologue with punchy, bouncy exchanges between the players – which is also where the welcome humour comes from. Was this fun to write? “I started writing when I moved to New York in 2006. And so I’ve been doing it for 18 years now. I do it every day if I don’t do it, I feel… I wouldn’t use the word anxiety, but it’s a feeling like you’ve forgotten something. And I’m not very good at thinking on my feet, or talking, and sometimes I need to have stuff written down before I understand it. I just need to write stuff and that’s how I think and analyse.
‘I started writing when I moved to New York in 2006. And so I’ve been doing it for 18 years now. I do it every day’
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