Claire Keegan

And I wasn't able to not ask the question while I was writing. Really, I think the book is a response to my asking the question.

And I wasn't able to not ask the question while I was writing. Really, I think the book is a response to my asking the question.

96.

96.

I mean, this is.

I mean, this is.

I'm just delighted. I'm just delighted to have, you know, had the opportunity to write the book and be heard and to say something about misogynistic Ireland. Because one of the things I know about the misogynist is that he wants to shut you up. Mm-hmm. Verbally and physically. In Maureen's case, obviously she was incarcerated.

I'm just delighted. I'm just delighted to have, you know, had the opportunity to write the book and be heard and to say something about misogynistic Ireland. Because one of the things I know about the misogynist is that he wants to shut you up. Mm-hmm. Verbally and physically. In Maureen's case, obviously she was incarcerated.

So it was lovely to be able to come out the far side of that and use my voice and use my power to be able to say something which obviously Maureen at least does not find in any way offensive and finds it accurate.

So it was lovely to be able to come out the far side of that and use my voice and use my power to be able to say something which obviously Maureen at least does not find in any way offensive and finds it accurate.

Well, Ireland is and was primarily Catholic, you know, and the Catholics were, generally speaking, poor and Protestants were not. But I just wasn't brought up with any hatred. I was very lucky in that regard. And I never remember my parents having any kind of a them and us relationship.

Well, Ireland is and was primarily Catholic, you know, and the Catholics were, generally speaking, poor and Protestants were not. But I just wasn't brought up with any hatred. I was very lucky in that regard. And I never remember my parents having any kind of a them and us relationship.

And I actually remember my mother saying that a Protestant was more likely to give you a lend of a plow than a Catholic would be. And so I was very lucky. I didn't think about Protestant neighbors as being anything other than more privileged than we were. So there was there was just no no hatred at all. There was no hostility as far as as far as I remember any anywhere in my childhood.

And I actually remember my mother saying that a Protestant was more likely to give you a lend of a plow than a Catholic would be. And so I was very lucky. I didn't think about Protestant neighbors as being anything other than more privileged than we were. So there was there was just no no hatred at all. There was no hostility as far as as far as I remember any anywhere in my childhood.

And maybe that's why Mrs. Wilson in the book is kind.

And maybe that's why Mrs. Wilson in the book is kind.

There wasn't a great deal, apart from the motor cars, I don't know that there was a huge difference between the 80s and the 60s or the 50s. Wow. We had bad hairdos in the 80s. Contraception was illegal in Ireland until 1985. Martial rape was legal until 1990. So that'll give you a picture of what the 80s were like in Ireland. We also had the highest unemployment in Western Europe. Wow.

There wasn't a great deal, apart from the motor cars, I don't know that there was a huge difference between the 80s and the 60s or the 50s. Wow. We had bad hairdos in the 80s. Contraception was illegal in Ireland until 1985. Martial rape was legal until 1990. So that'll give you a picture of what the 80s were like in Ireland. We also had the highest unemployment in Western Europe. Wow.

So it was a difficult and backward time.

So it was a difficult and backward time.

Hello Wicklow. Bad Wi-Fi in Wicklow. No, there really wasn't. It was just after reading the Ferns report, first of all. And then I heard what was going on in the Magdalene laundries and the radio, and I just needed to write something about it. But it wasn't in any way personal for me on an autobiographical level. It was what I was imagining.

Hello Wicklow. Bad Wi-Fi in Wicklow. No, there really wasn't. It was just after reading the Ferns report, first of all. And then I heard what was going on in the Magdalene laundries and the radio, and I just needed to write something about it. But it wasn't in any way personal for me on an autobiographical level. It was what I was imagining.

But I don't think there's anything more personal than what you imagine. Yeah.

But I don't think there's anything more personal than what you imagine. Yeah.

Good luck with your studies.

Good luck with your studies.

It just makes me feel grateful that I have the life I have and then I'm able to make a living writing stories and that people want to read them and that they're being taught in the schools. And it's lovely to think that there are, you know, teenage boys in Ireland now asking the question of what would I do and how am I and how do I treat women?

It just makes me feel grateful that I have the life I have and then I'm able to make a living writing stories and that people want to read them and that they're being taught in the schools. And it's lovely to think that there are, you know, teenage boys in Ireland now asking the question of what would I do and how am I and how do I treat women?

Let's hope not.

Let's hope not.

I think the main difference between Furlong and some of the other men in that community might be that when he was young, he was loved and cared for. He was living in privileged circumstances and the three people who lived there all cared for him and cared well for him. And even though he lost his mother when he was young, she loved him and she minded him.

I think the main difference between Furlong and some of the other men in that community might be that when he was young, he was loved and cared for. He was living in privileged circumstances and the three people who lived there all cared for him and cared well for him. And even though he lost his mother when he was young, she loved him and she minded him.

And people in that house respected each other. And there's a wonderful poem by Philip Larkin called An Arundel Tomb and it concludes with the line, what will survive of us is love. Mm-hmm. And I think that carries over into Bill's personality. Because he wasn't brutalized perhaps the way other people were. Wasn't so hard. Seamus Heaney says we get hurt and get hard.

And people in that house respected each other. And there's a wonderful poem by Philip Larkin called An Arundel Tomb and it concludes with the line, what will survive of us is love. Mm-hmm. And I think that carries over into Bill's personality. Because he wasn't brutalized perhaps the way other people were. Wasn't so hard. Seamus Heaney says we get hurt and get hard.

And I think he was able to keep some of his softness.

And I think he was able to keep some of his softness.

Thank you for the question. I'm not sure that there is a message I want anyone to take away from the book. I think reading a book is a really personal thing. And whatever you take away from it is all right. And, you know, some people may think this is a story of a fool. I mean, he was born on April Fool's Day and people predicted when he was born that he would turn out to be a fool.

Thank you for the question. I'm not sure that there is a message I want anyone to take away from the book. I think reading a book is a really personal thing. And whatever you take away from it is all right. And, you know, some people may think this is a story of a fool. I mean, he was born on April Fool's Day and people predicted when he was born that he would turn out to be a fool.

And maybe that's what the story is. Maybe there were clever ways to get done what he got done. Maybe it's a story about love. Maybe it's a story about a marriage falling apart. Maybe it's a story about a man breaking down. But whatever it is, whatever it is, is all right. Because I think your response to a book is deeply personal and shouldn't be interfered with.

And maybe that's what the story is. Maybe there were clever ways to get done what he got done. Maybe it's a story about love. Maybe it's a story about a marriage falling apart. Maybe it's a story about a man breaking down. But whatever it is, whatever it is, is all right. Because I think your response to a book is deeply personal and shouldn't be interfered with.

I think the reader completes the book

I think the reader completes the book

I think it's empathy. I actually think it's sadness in the end. I know that we're supposed to be happy all the time, but I mean, I just think that would be death for empathy. I think sadness actually makes you think about what life is like for others. If you weren't sad, if you didn't feel that, you wouldn't have empathy.

I think it's empathy. I actually think it's sadness in the end. I know that we're supposed to be happy all the time, but I mean, I just think that would be death for empathy. I think sadness actually makes you think about what life is like for others. If you weren't sad, if you didn't feel that, you wouldn't have empathy.

I actually do think that's brilliant. Don't you guys think? I think being upset is really important for your development. So you can think about what others go through.

I actually do think that's brilliant. Don't you guys think? I think being upset is really important for your development. So you can think about what others go through.

Well, I think then you're so sad that you're damaged. You've hardened. That's the hardness I was talking about earlier. Yes. You get hurt and get hard.

Well, I think then you're so sad that you're damaged. You've hardened. That's the hardness I was talking about earlier. Yes. You get hurt and get hard.

Don't you think, though, it's also kind of comical that you'd be afraid to take a girl home on Christmas Eve? That looking back for me now looking back, why would anybody not do that? Is also comical.

Don't you think, though, it's also kind of comical that you'd be afraid to take a girl home on Christmas Eve? That looking back for me now looking back, why would anybody not do that? Is also comical.

I agree. I mean, I know I'm not, I'm not disagreeing with you, but what I'm saying is. How's he going to live in that town?

I agree. I mean, I know I'm not, I'm not disagreeing with you, but what I'm saying is. How's he going to live in that town?

I agree. I think it's all bad.

I agree. I think it's all bad.

Yeah. I just think looking back now, how afraid people were of the church.

Yeah. I just think looking back now, how afraid people were of the church.

Yeah, people have been silent for so long they don't know how to find the words now. But the Catholic Church has collapsed in Ireland. People just don't go, people don't mind, people don't worry. And that's interesting.

Yeah, people have been silent for so long they don't know how to find the words now. But the Catholic Church has collapsed in Ireland. People just don't go, people don't mind, people don't worry. And that's interesting.

I would hope so.

I would hope so.

It's already opened up in Ireland to a great extent. It really has. But I'm just glad that other people in other parts of the world can hear about it and think about it. And it's lovely really to be a novelist or a short story writer because you don't have to pretend you work for the tourist board. It's nice to be a critic of your own society and get that chance. Yeah, yeah.

It's already opened up in Ireland to a great extent. It really has. But I'm just glad that other people in other parts of the world can hear about it and think about it. And it's lovely really to be a novelist or a short story writer because you don't have to pretend you work for the tourist board. It's nice to be a critic of your own society and get that chance. Yeah, yeah.

Not at all. I've never worried about that. I've always written what matters to me. And if you don't like it, well, just go find and read another book.

Not at all. I've never worried about that. I've always written what matters to me. And if you don't like it, well, just go find and read another book.

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

No, he's a complete invention, not based on anyone I know. And I didn't even have a conversation with a cold man before or during or after writing this book. I just made him up. But I think the imagination, I think language is older and richer than we are. And when you start playing around with it, it gives you sometimes what you're looking for.

No, he's a complete invention, not based on anyone I know. And I didn't even have a conversation with a cold man before or during or after writing this book. I just made him up. But I think the imagination, I think language is older and richer than we are. And when you start playing around with it, it gives you sometimes what you're looking for.

I started writing a short story about a boy who goes with his father to a Christian brother's boarding school to deliver a load of coal. And the boy, when he opens the coal house door, finds another boy just about his own age, locked inside. And his father bids him to just come on and lock the door. And I was really interested in what you would consider your father to be. If he told you that...

I started writing a short story about a boy who goes with his father to a Christian brother's boarding school to deliver a load of coal. And the boy, when he opens the coal house door, finds another boy just about his own age, locked inside. And his father bids him to just come on and lock the door. And I was really interested in what you would consider your father to be. If he told you that...

Yeah, if he'll do that to a boy just like you, and then why wouldn't he do it to you? And is it all right that he won't do it to you and he'll do it to somebody else? And then I thought, well, what am I going to do with that? I was interested in that, but what am I going to do with that? Because the child always is living at the mercy of who's minding him.

Yeah, if he'll do that to a boy just like you, and then why wouldn't he do it to you? And is it all right that he won't do it to you and he'll do it to somebody else? And then I thought, well, what am I going to do with that? I was interested in that, but what am I going to do with that? Because the child always is living at the mercy of who's minding him.

So there's nothing really the boy can do but carry it. So then my preoccupations shifted to what if it was the father's story. And it was a longer story. And it was the story of what the father does with that. Because he's an adult and he's a male.

So there's nothing really the boy can do but carry it. So then my preoccupations shifted to what if it was the father's story. And it was a longer story. And it was the story of what the father does with that. Because he's an adult and he's a male.

I do. I really do. I don't know why I believe that, but... That the story finds you.

I do. I really do. I don't know why I believe that, but... That the story finds you.

I do, and I think you have to listen for it and wait for it and not force it and play with it and sometimes just be really patient while it's making up its mind. I know you have dogs. You know when you're lazy and you don't walk your dog on a wet day and the nose keeps coming?

I do, and I think you have to listen for it and wait for it and not force it and play with it and sometimes just be really patient while it's making up its mind. I know you have dogs. You know when you're lazy and you don't walk your dog on a wet day and the nose keeps coming?

There. Yeah. Yes? Well, I think that stories, when they start doing that to you, it's time to either write them or then they'll go off and find somebody else who will. Really?

There. Yeah. Yes? Well, I think that stories, when they start doing that to you, it's time to either write them or then they'll go off and find somebody else who will. Really?

I never have and I don't have it yet. I've never felt that. I don't know if it'll come again. You don't know if it'll turn into something even when you're in the middle of it. You don't know if you'll finish it. I couldn't say that I've ever known that.

I never have and I don't have it yet. I've never felt that. I don't know if it'll come again. You don't know if it'll turn into something even when you're in the middle of it. You don't know if you'll finish it. I couldn't say that I've ever known that.

I've no talent for titles at all. I really don't. I don't know what to call something. I think what you call something is actually a different talent to writing movement. When you're writing a story, you're writing movement over time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then naming it.

I've no talent for titles at all. I really don't. I don't know what to call something. I think what you call something is actually a different talent to writing movement. When you're writing a story, you're writing movement over time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then naming it.

Sometimes when, you know, I've been teaching creative writing for 30 years, and sometimes there'll be somebody in the group who'll know exactly what to call it. Yeah. And they have that talent. They can name it.

Sometimes when, you know, I've been teaching creative writing for 30 years, and sometimes there'll be somebody in the group who'll know exactly what to call it. Yeah. And they have that talent. They can name it.

I think so.

I think so.

I think it was the best thing that I could pick out of the book and my editors couldn't come up with anything better. LAUGHTER

I think it was the best thing that I could pick out of the book and my editors couldn't come up with anything better. LAUGHTER

It means everything to me. I think we all, you know, you live your life over time and how you use the minutes and the hours and the days that build into years becomes your character. And that becomes who you are and becomes who you treat people and how you relate to people and how people relate to you.

It means everything to me. I think we all, you know, you live your life over time and how you use the minutes and the hours and the days that build into years becomes your character. And that becomes who you are and becomes who you treat people and how you relate to people and how people relate to you.

And it's also about the things you could have done, which you haven't, or the horrible things you could have said, which you didn't. Whatever it is turns into a life.

And it's also about the things you could have done, which you haven't, or the horrible things you could have said, which you didn't. Whatever it is turns into a life.

I think sadness actually makes you think about what life is like for others. I think being upset is really important so you can think about what others go through.

I think sadness actually makes you think about what life is like for others. I think being upset is really important so you can think about what others go through.

I just follow somebody physically through time. You see, I believe your feet never lie. I'm really interested in horses. One of the things that horses and starting horses taught me is that your feet never lie. You know, you can go up into your head in that place above your eyebrows and you can say something that absolutely isn't true is true because you've come to believe it.

I just follow somebody physically through time. You see, I believe your feet never lie. I'm really interested in horses. One of the things that horses and starting horses taught me is that your feet never lie. You know, you can go up into your head in that place above your eyebrows and you can say something that absolutely isn't true is true because you've come to believe it.

But your feet never lie. So one of the things I do when I'm writing is I just follow somebody's feet through time because that'll lead to the truth of what they want. What the hell?

But your feet never lie. So one of the things I do when I'm writing is I just follow somebody's feet through time because that'll lead to the truth of what they want. What the hell?

Your feet are always after your object of desire. Uh-huh. It's always true. Even if you're a con artist, your feet are going after whoever it is or whatever it is you want to con. Uh-huh. So it's just, I don't try and analyze what somebody is thinking, but your feet are just hooked onto your emotions. And your emotions also are always accurate.

Your feet are always after your object of desire. Uh-huh. It's always true. Even if you're a con artist, your feet are going after whoever it is or whatever it is you want to con. Uh-huh. So it's just, I don't try and analyze what somebody is thinking, but your feet are just hooked onto your emotions. And your emotions also are always accurate.

Because he's a man of few words and he isn't a gossip and he doesn't say very much. I actually think he wouldn't make a long night shorter. You know? So he's not somebody who goes on and he needs to keep busy. And I think he likes the repetition of work. And I also think he's kind of afraid of falling apart if he stops.

Because he's a man of few words and he isn't a gossip and he doesn't say very much. I actually think he wouldn't make a long night shorter. You know? So he's not somebody who goes on and he needs to keep busy. And I think he likes the repetition of work. And I also think he's kind of afraid of falling apart if he stops.

Yes, I think he's that thoughtful type of a person who's asking what he's doing with his time. I think also it's part of his upsets. Is he doing what he should have done with his life, with his time as a father, as a husband, as a man? Also, I think in that time leading up to Christmas, we all wear some type of a shield.

Yes, I think he's that thoughtful type of a person who's asking what he's doing with his time. I think also it's part of his upsets. Is he doing what he should have done with his life, with his time as a father, as a husband, as a man? Also, I think in that time leading up to Christmas, we all wear some type of a shield.

And I think especially if you have children, that at Christmas time, that shield grows a bit thinner. Why? Because you're supposed to be a Christian. You're supposed to be thinking about how you're getting on. You're supposed to pause.

And I think especially if you have children, that at Christmas time, that shield grows a bit thinner. Why? Because you're supposed to be a Christian. You're supposed to be thinking about how you're getting on. You're supposed to pause.

I think so.

I think so.

I didn't have any relative or anybody I knew in the laundries. It was just all over the news for a long time in Ireland. And I think the question I was interested in was, why did people do nothing? when the police knew, the social workers knew, the parents knew, the Catholic Church knew, the priests knew, the nuns knew, and nobody did anything.

I didn't have any relative or anybody I knew in the laundries. It was just all over the news for a long time in Ireland. And I think the question I was interested in was, why did people do nothing? when the police knew, the social workers knew, the parents knew, the Catholic Church knew, the priests knew, the nuns knew, and nobody did anything.

And I wasn't able to not ask the question while I was writing. Really, I think the book is a response to my asking the question.

96.

I mean, this is.

I'm just delighted. I'm just delighted to have, you know, had the opportunity to write the book and be heard and to say something about misogynistic Ireland. Because one of the things I know about the misogynist is that he wants to shut you up. Mm-hmm. Verbally and physically. In Maureen's case, obviously she was incarcerated.

So it was lovely to be able to come out the far side of that and use my voice and use my power to be able to say something which obviously Maureen at least does not find in any way offensive and finds it accurate.

Well, Ireland is and was primarily Catholic, you know, and the Catholics were, generally speaking, poor and Protestants were not. But I just wasn't brought up with any hatred. I was very lucky in that regard. And I never remember my parents having any kind of a them and us relationship.

And I actually remember my mother saying that a Protestant was more likely to give you a lend of a plow than a Catholic would be. And so I was very lucky. I didn't think about Protestant neighbors as being anything other than more privileged than we were. So there was there was just no no hatred at all. There was no hostility as far as as far as I remember any anywhere in my childhood.

And maybe that's why Mrs. Wilson in the book is kind.

There wasn't a great deal, apart from the motor cars, I don't know that there was a huge difference between the 80s and the 60s or the 50s. Wow. We had bad hairdos in the 80s. Contraception was illegal in Ireland until 1985. Martial rape was legal until 1990. So that'll give you a picture of what the 80s were like in Ireland. We also had the highest unemployment in Western Europe. Wow.

So it was a difficult and backward time.

Hello Wicklow. Bad Wi-Fi in Wicklow. No, there really wasn't. It was just after reading the Ferns report, first of all. And then I heard what was going on in the Magdalene laundries and the radio, and I just needed to write something about it. But it wasn't in any way personal for me on an autobiographical level. It was what I was imagining.

But I don't think there's anything more personal than what you imagine. Yeah.

Good luck with your studies.

It just makes me feel grateful that I have the life I have and then I'm able to make a living writing stories and that people want to read them and that they're being taught in the schools. And it's lovely to think that there are, you know, teenage boys in Ireland now asking the question of what would I do and how am I and how do I treat women?

Let's hope not.

I think the main difference between Furlong and some of the other men in that community might be that when he was young, he was loved and cared for. He was living in privileged circumstances and the three people who lived there all cared for him and cared well for him. And even though he lost his mother when he was young, she loved him and she minded him.

And people in that house respected each other. And there's a wonderful poem by Philip Larkin called An Arundel Tomb and it concludes with the line, what will survive of us is love. Mm-hmm. And I think that carries over into Bill's personality. Because he wasn't brutalized perhaps the way other people were. Wasn't so hard. Seamus Heaney says we get hurt and get hard.

And I think he was able to keep some of his softness.

Thank you for the question. I'm not sure that there is a message I want anyone to take away from the book. I think reading a book is a really personal thing. And whatever you take away from it is all right. And, you know, some people may think this is a story of a fool. I mean, he was born on April Fool's Day and people predicted when he was born that he would turn out to be a fool.

And maybe that's what the story is. Maybe there were clever ways to get done what he got done. Maybe it's a story about love. Maybe it's a story about a marriage falling apart. Maybe it's a story about a man breaking down. But whatever it is, whatever it is, is all right. Because I think your response to a book is deeply personal and shouldn't be interfered with.

I think the reader completes the book

I think it's empathy. I actually think it's sadness in the end. I know that we're supposed to be happy all the time, but I mean, I just think that would be death for empathy. I think sadness actually makes you think about what life is like for others. If you weren't sad, if you didn't feel that, you wouldn't have empathy.

I actually do think that's brilliant. Don't you guys think? I think being upset is really important for your development. So you can think about what others go through.

Well, I think then you're so sad that you're damaged. You've hardened. That's the hardness I was talking about earlier. Yes. You get hurt and get hard.

Don't you think, though, it's also kind of comical that you'd be afraid to take a girl home on Christmas Eve? That looking back for me now looking back, why would anybody not do that? Is also comical.

I agree. I mean, I know I'm not, I'm not disagreeing with you, but what I'm saying is. How's he going to live in that town?

I agree. I think it's all bad.

Yeah. I just think looking back now, how afraid people were of the church.

Yeah, people have been silent for so long they don't know how to find the words now. But the Catholic Church has collapsed in Ireland. People just don't go, people don't mind, people don't worry. And that's interesting.

I would hope so.

It's already opened up in Ireland to a great extent. It really has. But I'm just glad that other people in other parts of the world can hear about it and think about it. And it's lovely really to be a novelist or a short story writer because you don't have to pretend you work for the tourist board. It's nice to be a critic of your own society and get that chance. Yeah, yeah.

Not at all. I've never worried about that. I've always written what matters to me. And if you don't like it, well, just go find and read another book.

Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

No, he's a complete invention, not based on anyone I know. And I didn't even have a conversation with a cold man before or during or after writing this book. I just made him up. But I think the imagination, I think language is older and richer than we are. And when you start playing around with it, it gives you sometimes what you're looking for.

I started writing a short story about a boy who goes with his father to a Christian brother's boarding school to deliver a load of coal. And the boy, when he opens the coal house door, finds another boy just about his own age, locked inside. And his father bids him to just come on and lock the door. And I was really interested in what you would consider your father to be. If he told you that...

Yeah, if he'll do that to a boy just like you, and then why wouldn't he do it to you? And is it all right that he won't do it to you and he'll do it to somebody else? And then I thought, well, what am I going to do with that? I was interested in that, but what am I going to do with that? Because the child always is living at the mercy of who's minding him.

So there's nothing really the boy can do but carry it. So then my preoccupations shifted to what if it was the father's story. And it was a longer story. And it was the story of what the father does with that. Because he's an adult and he's a male.

I do. I really do. I don't know why I believe that, but... That the story finds you.

I do, and I think you have to listen for it and wait for it and not force it and play with it and sometimes just be really patient while it's making up its mind. I know you have dogs. You know when you're lazy and you don't walk your dog on a wet day and the nose keeps coming?

There. Yeah. Yes? Well, I think that stories, when they start doing that to you, it's time to either write them or then they'll go off and find somebody else who will. Really?

I never have and I don't have it yet. I've never felt that. I don't know if it'll come again. You don't know if it'll turn into something even when you're in the middle of it. You don't know if you'll finish it. I couldn't say that I've ever known that.

I've no talent for titles at all. I really don't. I don't know what to call something. I think what you call something is actually a different talent to writing movement. When you're writing a story, you're writing movement over time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then naming it.

Sometimes when, you know, I've been teaching creative writing for 30 years, and sometimes there'll be somebody in the group who'll know exactly what to call it. Yeah. And they have that talent. They can name it.

I think so.

I think it was the best thing that I could pick out of the book and my editors couldn't come up with anything better. LAUGHTER

It means everything to me. I think we all, you know, you live your life over time and how you use the minutes and the hours and the days that build into years becomes your character. And that becomes who you are and becomes who you treat people and how you relate to people and how people relate to you.

And it's also about the things you could have done, which you haven't, or the horrible things you could have said, which you didn't. Whatever it is turns into a life.

I think sadness actually makes you think about what life is like for others. I think being upset is really important so you can think about what others go through.

I just follow somebody physically through time. You see, I believe your feet never lie. I'm really interested in horses. One of the things that horses and starting horses taught me is that your feet never lie. You know, you can go up into your head in that place above your eyebrows and you can say something that absolutely isn't true is true because you've come to believe it.

But your feet never lie. So one of the things I do when I'm writing is I just follow somebody's feet through time because that'll lead to the truth of what they want. What the hell?

Your feet are always after your object of desire. Uh-huh. It's always true. Even if you're a con artist, your feet are going after whoever it is or whatever it is you want to con. Uh-huh. So it's just, I don't try and analyze what somebody is thinking, but your feet are just hooked onto your emotions. And your emotions also are always accurate.

Because he's a man of few words and he isn't a gossip and he doesn't say very much. I actually think he wouldn't make a long night shorter. You know? So he's not somebody who goes on and he needs to keep busy. And I think he likes the repetition of work. And I also think he's kind of afraid of falling apart if he stops.

Yes, I think he's that thoughtful type of a person who's asking what he's doing with his time. I think also it's part of his upsets. Is he doing what he should have done with his life, with his time as a father, as a husband, as a man? Also, I think in that time leading up to Christmas, we all wear some type of a shield.

And I think especially if you have children, that at Christmas time, that shield grows a bit thinner. Why? Because you're supposed to be a Christian. You're supposed to be thinking about how you're getting on. You're supposed to pause.

I think so.

I didn't have any relative or anybody I knew in the laundries. It was just all over the news for a long time in Ireland. And I think the question I was interested in was, why did people do nothing? when the police knew, the social workers knew, the parents knew, the Catholic Church knew, the priests knew, the nuns knew, and nobody did anything.