AUTHOR Ciara Geraghty has just launched her latest book.
In Late Learner the Dublin-based writer explores the world of care homes.
This week she told us what we can expect from it…
Author Ciara Geraghty has just released her latest bookWhat inspired Late Learner?
It’s set in a nursing home and that was inspired by the six months my father spent in one before he died. Nursing homes are fertile ground for fiction, all the characters – residents and staff - interacting in one place, each marked by their own, unique stories and the circumstances that brought them there.
I am also interested in the ‘coming of age’ novel, especially when the main character is an adult in their 40’s. There is hope for all of us in such stories.
Can you tell us about the story?
In the fantasy world in her head, Ronda McCann is assertive, brave, important, loved and respected. In reality, Ronda is an underpaid, overworked care assistant in a nursing home. When her mother decides to sell the family home, Ronda is flung out of her fantasy world into real life where she discovers that it’s never too late to become the person you’ve always imagined yourself to be.
How long does the writing process take you?
About a year to get the story down on the page and then maybe another six months editing, proof-reading, writing the blurb, choosing a cover, sticky-taping it all together.
Are your characters based on people in real life?
In Late Learner, Ms Lyra Gallagher is inspired by the late, great Nell McCafferty, a fearless powerhouse of a Derry woman who helped set up the Irish Women’s Liberation Movement and organised the Contraceptive Train in 1971.
Like Ms Gallagher, Nell did not suffer fools and her tongue could cut a hedge.
What books are on your bedside table?
Currently reading Home Economics, Caitríona Lally’s understated memoir about the work of writing and her job as a cleaner in Trinity College.
Have just finished Contentious Spaces, Dr Rosaleen McDonagh’s debut novel about a halting site threatened with closure.
An insightful story told with grace and integrity by a singular voice from the Irish Traveller community.
I always have short stories on the go. At the moment I’m re-reading A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin; a masterclass in the genre.
Do you have an all-time favourite read?
Absolutely. I love re-reading my favourite novels.
I have a podcast called Bookbirds where myself and fellow author and friend, Caroline Grace-Cassidy, talk about the books we loved back in the day.
The next book we’re doing is Rivals by Jilly Cooper.
This novel is like a time machine and transports me back to my angst-ridden teenage self, lost between the covers of this gloriously immersive page-turner of a story.
Which writer influenced you most?
Emma Clare Sweeney. Emma taught the first creative writing class I attended, back in 2004. I was a nervous student and Emma’s gentle encouragement coaxed the writer out of me. Always so grateful that I met Emma when I did; it sounds dramatic but it’s true to say that she pretty much changed my life.
Late Learner explores the world of nursing homesWhat is the best lesson life has taught you?
You’re never not going to be scared of spiders so just accept it. (This is my version of ‘Accept the things you cannot change’).
What are your goals for 2026?
Finish writing the novel I’m working on (working title: ‘The Relief Road’ a series of interconnected short stories set in a coastal town in north Dublin).
Help my youngest get through the Leaving Cert. which is a bit like your A levels. I am mostly throwing confectionary at the situation.
Train my dog to respect boundaries (this is more in hope than in anticipation of any actual achievement).
Where do your Irish roots lie?
My father was from Dublin and my mother comes from Cavan, a border county, although she moved to Dublin when she was only a slip of a girl of 16. So, I would say it’s mostly Dublin in my blood.
Released on May 7, published by Harper Collins, Late Learner is available to purchase in bookshops and online stores.
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