Writing Daughterhood: Quickfire Q+A with Alison Irvine

Join us as Alison Irvine, author of Daughterhood, takes part in our series of quick-fire Q&As!
What is a quick-fire Q&A?
We have our interviewee pick a number at random and we ask them the general question listed next to it.
Shortly after we switch to asking book-specific questions, to give you a brief insight into our wonderful writers and their books.

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If you could describe yourself in five words, what would they be?

Patient. Generally optimistic. Curious. And sporty.

What are your three favourite books?

Anything by Marilynne Robinson, including Gilead, Jack, Lila and Home. I think she's fabulous. 

What was your favourite subject at school?

I loved drama. I wanted to be an actress for as long as I could remember. And then I loved it at school, I did lots of school plays, I studied it at university, I was a member of the National Youth Theatre. It was only when I got to my early twenties that I realised it probably didn't quite suit my disposition as an introvert. I didn't start writing until my late twenties, but then I realised that I was actually much better suited to writing. 

What is your favourite film?

It's not a cool choice, but it's Dirty Dancing because I grew up on it, loved it. It reminds me of being a teenager. I think it's fab. I love the dancing. I love the romance. I made my kids watch it recently and I kept pointing out iconic moments, which they were rolling their eyes at. But yeah, Dirty Dancing for a bit of fun.

Do you see parts of yourself reflected in any of the characters?

Yes, I think the idea always starts with an aspect of me or something that I'm preoccupied with or worried about, or questioning or thinking about. And then then I have to turn it into fiction and make plots and storylines and whatnot. So, yeah, there's probably aspects of me in all the characters, especially the female bodily experience that I go into in this. A lot of that is my experience or things that I've chatted to friends about. It's synonymous with women of a certain age.

Do you read reviews of your own work?

Yes, of course. And I wish I could be like Judi Dench, who doesn't watch anything that she's ever performed in. I wish I could just do it, but I think I like praise. Hopefully it is praise. When it isn't, I just have to suck it up. I know some people will like my writing, other people won't, and that's absolutely fine. But yes, I'm afraid hand on heart, I do read them, every single word. I remember the author Laura Pearson wrote on Instagram something like, if you can’t back your own book and your own writing then who else is going to do it. That resonated with me. So at some point you have to be proud of what you've written, in the circumstances in which you've written it as well. So certainly in the last couple of years, I’ve been delighted that I’ve written the books I’ve written, given other stuff that's been going on in in my life.

What was the most emotional part about writing this book?

I've got a sister who I love dearly and I think trying to write about that connection between sisters, which felt really important to get right. Even when you absolutely disagree and are very different from a sibling, there's that kind of pull that comes from having grown up together and having the same childhood and experiences. That tug that you have between siblings felt quite emotional and I wanted to get it right.

What themes were the most important for you to explore?

Themes of motherhood and sisterhood and relationships within a family. Loyalty; I was really interested in loyalty as a theme. And that moment where you look back on life and you realise that – it's a bit of a cliché – but in the blink of an eye a lot of it has gone by and so you reassess it. But also the idea that you can change and you can make your life how you want it at any point. So I was interested in family but then I was also interested in ideas of estrangement within a family as well and what happens if that structure – that is so fundamental to a person – what happens when it gets a bit shaky? I was also looking at things like issues of class and education.

Daughterhood is out now.