How a “Dating Odyssey” Inspired Louise O’Neill
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What is the episode’s content warning and why does it matter?
Suuret päätökset voivat viedä kauas. Siksi tarvitsen rinnalleni kumppanin, joka ymmärtää, minne olen menossaan. Nordea Private Bankingissa oma sijoitusjohtajani tuo selkeyttä päätöksiini. Ja vie minut askeleen edelleen. nordea.fi Koutta private
paikki. Mm.
Phew.
No niin, Jussi siinä hyvin summassikin ylä asioihin liittyvät tunteensa. Mutta älä justsi huoli vaan, käänny varman puoleen. Meille juuri sinun ylä asiasi ovat intohimoasioita varma.fi kautta ylä.
I do have to say that this episode includes discussion of disordered eating and eating disorders. So please do take care when listening if you find these topics difficult or triggering.
How did Louise O’Neill’s early life and career shape her writing success?
Coming up on Bookshelfie. And then I went on what I can only describe as a dating odyssey, um where I went to Paris, London, New York and then Rome. And I basically was there for like a month in each place and set up between one to two dates every day. It really woke me up. Like it was genuinely like as I said, this bolt of understanding out of the blue where I thought, okay, Rachel's an addict and so am I. I had quite an advanced reading age and I think when I was like maybe eight, she had to hide like I think her cosmopolitans or something because I asked at the dinner table what did masturbation mean and she was like,
She was like less reading. Less reading we'd think.
I've never been allowed in a book club. Um it's very unfair. I what do you mean you've never been allowed? I'll I'll tell you, I'll tell you why. And it's like it's honestly it's like something I feel very sensitive about.
Hello, I'm Vic Hope, and this is Bookshelfie, the podcast from the Women's Prize that asks women, with lives as inspiring as any fiction, to share the five books by women that have shaped them. Now, before we begin, remember to subscribe or follow so you never miss an episode. With thanks to our sponsor, Bailey's. Today I'm joined by Louise O'Neill. Louise grew up in Clunakilte in the heart of the rugged coastline of West Cork in Ireland. After stepping away from a career in the fashion industry, she returned home to dedicate her time to writing her first novel, Only Ever Yours, a dystopian feminist story, which went on to win the bookseller's inaugural YA book prize in 2015. This success was quickly cemented following the release of her second critically acclaimed YA novel, Asking for It, which was voted Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards the very same year and spent 52 consecutive weeks in the Irish top ten bestseller list.
In the decade that followed, she's written three novels for adults and a YA feminist reimagining of The Little Mermaid, and has not one but two. Two more titles being published this year. Her latest novel, Whatever Happened to Madeline Stone, came out in April. And her first memoir, A Bigger Life, is published this month by HQ. Louise, welcome. You said before I started that I'm just gonna sit and have a stony face while you read my acclaim. Well, yeah.
Just a very strange, like, you know, if I was sitting here like listing out your accolades and you have to kind of like nod and look sort of slightly, you know, like humble
but also like grateful. It's a very weird, so I just kind of keep my face very still and I'm like, thanks. Thank you, Vic.
Every single time, and I wonder if this is because this is the women's prize podcast, are we as women less encouraged to
know how to take the compliments. No, for sure. No, absolutely. Um, and I think there is this double standard, and I've obviously I'm now guilty of like holding myself to it. Where that if you and also I am also Irish. Like I'm a woman and I'm Irish. Like I'm absolutely screwed. Do you know? Because as an Irish person, the idea of having notions about yourself is like social death. And then I think as a woman The idea of being like boastful or um seeing seeming to Yeah, like too fond of yourself, I think, is
definitely not um approved of either. Well, I think when reading out that sort of snapshot of your author journey, what really stands out is the versatility of you as a writer, huge success in the YA market, a feminist fairy tale, five novels, now a memoir as well.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the episode’s content warning and why does it matter?
0:08–1:02
2
How did Louise O’Neill’s early life and career shape her writing success?
1:02–5:19
3
What inspired Louise’s ‘dating odyssey’ and how did it affect her memoir?
5:19–28:47
4
Why did Louise take a year off to heal, and what did she discover during that time?
28:47–57:36
5
How did Elizabeth Day’s *How to Fail* change Louise’s view of failure?
57:36–58:07