Patrick Freyne

How would you describe it to people?

Somebody described it as kaleidoscopic.

Yeah.

Like there's loads of voices and that's partly influenced by journalism, I think, because a lot of the journalism I love doing is reporting where you talk to lots of people.

And it kind of got rid of the notion that I used to have that there were lead characters and bit players involved.

And so I wanted it to be a novel with loads of voices.

And I wanted to start with the band and then move out into talking about Dublin and other parts of the city and community and failure and a sense of failure and what that means and loss and grief.

Because in middle age, most people have experienced loss and grief.

So I wanted, I guess...

I wanted people to have a sense of journeying through the city with different people and experiencing this bigger story cumulatively.

And it was very influenced by journalism and very influenced by music and very influenced by like living in the city.

OK, yeah, yeah.

And we should say as well, there's a kind of an element of a caper.

There's caper-esque vibes to it as well and it is funny and everything and all that too.

So why did this song, this is by the Beths, Expert in a Dying Field, why did it speak to you so much?

I heard it when I was about halfway through the first draft and I was out for a walk trying to think about what to do in the book next.

And there's like this kind of melancholy and humour running through the song.

I think the song is about a relationship that's gone and the person is reckoning with that.

And in my book, it's about a bunch of people reckoning with...

a band and their youth that's kind of gone.