SARAH CROSSAN is the author of Where the Heart Should Be, a thought-provoking and moving novel that explores love and family during the Great Hunger.

We asked Sarah what her desert island reads are and about her latest novel.

What are you reading now?

A novel called Falling Animals by Sheila Armstrong. So far, so brilliant!

If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have five books – what would they be?

Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, Pride and Prejudice by Austen, Sylvia Plath’s Collected Poems, The Passion by Winterson and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (is that cheating?)

Where is your favourite place to read?

In bed

Do you read one book at a time or multiple?

It depends. I usually have a few on the go, if I’m at home.

Do you use a bookmark or fold the corners of pages?

I usually grab loads of those little perfumed cards from the airport when I’m travelling and stick them into my books.

What can you tell us about your novel Where the Heart Should Be?

It’s a novel that has taken me 12 years to complete. It’s full of love and anger and about whether it’s possible to love someone you’d normally consider the enemy.

Your novel is set in Ireland in 1846 during the Great Hunger – what can you tell us about this period of history?

It was a difficult time for Irish people as they were being governed by the UK and couldn’t make their own political decisions. People often refer to this time as the ‘potato famine’ but actually, there was enough food on the island, it’s just that it wasn’t being fairly distributed and therefore millions of people either died or emigrated.

What does a day of writing look like for you – do you have any particular habits?

I am up early to help my daughter get out to school. I then walk the dog and have some breakfast. I am quite disciplined about my time; I don’t go to the cinema or meet friends for lunch. If it’s a work day, I make sure I spend lots of time at my desk.

What book character would you be, and why?

I’ll go with Thomas Ripley. I wouldn’t like to murder anyone, but I’d be keen to lope around Italy with wealthy artists.

If you could meet one author (living or dead) – who would it be and why?

I met Margaret Atwood when I was 17 and told her I’d like to be an author. She encouraged me to try. I’d like to tell her that I did try, and that it’s going OK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Crossan grew up in Dublin and London. Her books for children and teenagers have won many prizes including the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal, the CBI Book of the Year, the YA Book Prize, and the CLiPPA Poetry Award. Her first novel for adults, Here Is The Beehive, was published in 2020 to critical acclaim, and was shortlisted for Popular Fiction Book of the Year in the AN Post Irish Book Awards Sarah’s novels have been translated into more than 25 languages. She currently lives and works in East Sussex.

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