Sinéad Gleeson

And I always come back to O'Connor and think, you know, he was he was writing about the short story and and wrote a brilliant book about the short story, about how it gives voice to the submerged voices, the people on the hinterland, the people on the outside, which, you know.

A woman in 1940s America who wasn't married, that would absolutely have been Brennan.

But he certainly didn't champion her and bring her into that inner circle of writers, which always has disappointed me to this day.

Wow.

For O'Connor not championing her, you know, William Sean took a punt at her and Maxwell was so good to her her whole life and always, always stayed in her corner and encouraged her work.

And I think that might have been a bit more unusual at the time.

He just saw something in the writing that maybe other people didn't necessarily and was a lifelong beacon in a way.

He sort of always lived for it.

It's really hard to pick.

There's so much about the work that is so minute.

It's the specificity, whether she's writing about New York streets or she's writing about the house in Ranelagh.

And I must tell you, actually, I have been in that house in Ranelagh, Maeve's house.

And the woman who owns the house is called Maeve.

And I just sent her a letter one day and asked if I could, you know, thinking she wouldn't get back to me.

And she did and said, yes, of course, you can come and look around.

And it's been renovated a lot, but...

it was heart-stopping to see that the three steps that go down from the hall out to the garden are still there and the bay window is still there and all the rose ceilings.

So all the things from the stories are still there.

Yes.

This is from The Eldest Child.