Ahead of the publication of her new novel, Our London Lives, we caught up with Christine Dwyer Hickey to discuss her literary influences, writing process, and reading as a way to forget about yourself.
Award-winning novelist and short story writer Christine Dwyer Hickey’s latest novel, Our London Lives was published on September 5 and is being lauded for Hickey’s ability to capture the pulse of a city and the depth of a moment.
Set in 1979 in the vast and often unforgiving city of London, two Irish outsiders seeking refuge find one another: Milly, a teenage runaway, and Pip, a young boxer full of anger and potential who is beginning to drink it all away.
Over the decades their lives follow different paths, interweaving from time to time, often in one another’s sight, always on one another’s mind, yet rarely together.
Forty years on, Milly is clinging onto the only home she’s ever really known while Pip, haunted by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, traipses the streets of London and wrestles with the life of the recovering alcoholic. And between them, perhaps uncrossable, lies the unspoken span of their lives.
Dark and brave, this epic novel offers a rich and moving portrait of an ever-changing city, and a profound inquiry into character, loneliness and the nature of love.
Read on for our interview with Christine…
Did you always want to be a writer?
Deep down, I think I always knew I wanted to be a writer but I had known a lot of writers as a child and wasn’t attracted to the lifestyle. By the time I was 30, my three kids were in school and I started then. I did half an hour a day for about six months, gradually increasing the time to an hour. At the end of the year, I had a story that felt right. I entered the Listowel Writers’ Week short story competition and won that. I haven’t looked back since.
What inspired you to start writing?
It was just instinct really. And of course, other writers. I would read a book and feel myself leaning towards something; a feeling that maybe I could create something similar.
Tell us about your new book, Our London Lives. Where did the idea come from?
It started as a shadowy thing and gradually took shape. I knew I wanted to write something about a boxer. I also knew I wanted to write something set in London from the perspective of an outsider – Irish but not of the Irish community in London.
What do you hope this book instils in the reader?
I will leave that up to the reader — each will find their own way into the book and make their own connections.
What did you learn while writing this book?
On the practical side: boxing; the recovery process in Alcoholics Anonymous; the streets and parks of London; the poem The Waste Land by TS Eliot. And of course, I learned a little more about that exhaustive, ever-elusive subject — the human condition.
Tell us about your writing process.
I need to know the location first. While writing Our London Lives, I moved to London for four months to get a sense of the city. After that, it’s full-on and always character-driven. A bit like the Stanislavski method for actors, I suppose — an attempt to become the character I’m writing about.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
I listen to a lot of music, although not when I’m actually writing. I use it to help me visualise and also as a means to click into a mood. I listen in the car so that I can see how it complements the movement of people, traffic, birds etc. I couldn’t write without music, to be honest.
What are your three top favourite books of all time, and why?
This is tricky. I love so many books. Three novels I have read many times over are Ulysses by James Joyce; Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Great city books with real characters and all the savagery as well as the beauty of city life.
Who are your favourite authors, Irish or otherwise?
We have so many great Irish writers past and present, I can’t possibly choose. I’m going to give a shout-out to some of our younger writers: Nicole Flattery, Kevin Curran and Estelle Birdy — all producing exciting and original work.
What are some upcoming book releases we should have on our radar?
Well, if you’re in the mood for something elegant, then I expect Alan Hollinghurst’s Our Evenings will fit the bill. Personally, I can’t wait to see what Colum McCann has done with his forthcoming novel, Twist. I think he is our finest writer.
What book made you want to become a writer?
Ulysses or more precisely, the character of Leopold Bloom. Once I realised that I was inside his head, viewing the world as he viewed it while at the same time, moving through the streets with him—I said to myself—that’s it, that’s how I’ll do it.
What’s one book you would add to the school curriculum?
Claire Kilroy’s Soldier Sailor. It’s a powerful novel about motherhood and relationships and just how bloody difficult it all is. It’s also smart and funny and brilliantly written.
What’s the best book you’ve read so far this year?
The best book so far was a re-read: Revolutionary Road, by the American writer Richard Yates. He tends to cover the same ground, i.e. his own life experience, but always at a slant. It’s the third time I’ve read this American tragedy and if anything, it gets better.
What’s some advice you’ve got for other aspiring writers?
Be consistent with your time, little and often is better than an occasional blast. Little and often is more likely to stay in your mind and allow you to think about your work. Also, try looking at the world through the eyes of one character at a time. And please, forget about yourself.
What do the acts of reading and writing mean to you?
They help me to forget myself.
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