Maggie O’Farrell

Well, I think, you know, I think it's important, I think it's hard to...

Imagine if you are Irish or you know a lot about Irish history that, you know, you think, oh, obviously we understand the famine and we understand the causes.

And there's been a huge amount of study and reading, you know, that wasn't for a long time.

But lately in the last hundred years or so, there has been.

But I think outside Ireland, people don't know as much about it as they should.

And it's important.

I hate to say it, but there are more famines coming due to the climate.

It's something we need to think about.

It's something we do need to face for the future.

But I think...

I don't think Britain has come to terms with it or faced their role in it.

And I don't think other people know about it.

You know, my husband read it.

My husband's a Londoner and he read Landon.

He said, I had no idea.

I had no idea it was like this.

I do.

I really wanted to write a depiction of Ireland.

I mean, the word Ireland doesn't appear in the book anywhere, or the word Irish or the word England or English.

But I wanted to write about, you know, land is such a potent phrase and idea in Ireland in terms of ownership and, you know, the number, the waves of people who've assumed control of it.