The author on Nesting, her novel about coercive control; her complicated identity; and misogyny on social media
Roisín O’Donnell: ‘I became hyper-aware of the manipulative language used by abusive partners. I wanted to cut through that’
Factual details make the story feel more authentic, and allow meaning to occur in a nuanced way, on the level of suggestion. Storm in a Teacup. Perfect. Writing Nesting, I became hyper-aware of the manipulative language used by abusive partners. I wanted to cut through that, to write a story that rang completely true. I was not aware of many other books like this . If anything, I felt there is still a lot of stigma around this type of story. I was writing into that silence.
One journalist said this about one short story in my collection. It wasn’t something I was deliberately trying to do . With Nesting I just tried to stay as close to Ciara as possible, to allow her to lead the story. The pacing, the tension comes from her; from the reality of the situation she is in. I just had to listen, not to betray her character by imposing my own agenda.
You live in Dublin but were raised in Sheffield by parents from Derry. You’ve written for The Irish Times before about questions of identity. How does this feed your writing?
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