Jennifer Bray

imagine if I wrote a book about sisters.

You know, imagine if I wrote a book about family, what would that feel like?

Imagine if this character did this, what about that?

And then it just kind of took off.

Yeah.

So instead of like, I used my insomnia to like dream up a novel rather than think about death.

That's not what's in me, clearly.

you're you're smiling because it's true so on one hand I'm like when my sisters are like in a book about sisters I'm like no no it's not about you guys yeah and they're like hmm but like I think it's true about families doesn't it like there's no one can get under your skin quite like your family members and yet no one very few people will evoke such a sense of love from you either

so it's like exploring that was so much fun yeah and like also I love writing like these female characters who are messy yeah and a bit chaotic and they've got guilt and they have regrets and they love each other but they also have complicated feelings towards each other some have like jealousy guilt uh others kind of like more of a like what the hell is going on here which I think

is more emblematic of the younger sibling in the book, Lucy.

But yeah, like it's fun to write women who are complicated because I think all of us women are complicated.

And that is the best thing ever.

thinking reflecting wondering when is the right time to say this is there going to be a right time to say this will I just not say anything ever and I'll just have this piece of information inside my head yeah just think about it but never say it it's true because you have to be tactful with your family I mean look you gotta be tactful with your friends obviously but with your family and also you know the right buttons or the wrong buttons to press they know the same about you yeah sometimes like keeping the peace

is very important so yeah you keep things inside your head but yeah like I tried to reflect that in the novel like and even the little actions that you think won't have an impact can have a huge impact throwing away someone's purse yes can cause a lot of problems it sure can certainly in this book yeah

yeah I mean it was I mean I think I said I did an interview um in the Irish Times and also a written piece in the Sunday Times and I kind of touched on this is that I didn't deliberately set out to write about a character who has scars or who has been the victim of a violent attack and I know that sounds really weird because I wrote the character and I wrote the book but it wasn't I never actually sat down and said I'm gonna write it's as I started plotting as I as the characters kind of

came into their own life almost like sort of lifted off the page.

This is just what happened.

This is this is what came out.

So subconsciously, I must have wanted to explore because when I was so basically when I was 21, I was out.

I'd actually gone home from a night out, but I'd left.