There was once a time in Irish literary history when female writers, and indeed stories from a female perspective, weren’t commonplace. That is much changed now with an abundance of female authors in Ireland doing extremely well.

Novelist Sheila O’Flanagan is one such woman. She is thankful to be part of this tradition, but feels women writing commercial fiction are not afforded the same recognition as their male counterparts.

“I think we’re still not getting the same credit as men writing commercial fiction, because men writing commercial fiction are generally writing crime. Somehow, crime seems to be OK, but if you write about relationships, ‘It’s a bit girly isn’t it?’ I get emails from men as well saying they really enjoy reading my books, that I’m their guilty pleasure,” says Sheila.

“I think this whole thing is a bit of an issue for all of us. Women read lots of books that are written from male perspectives. Men read hardly anything written from a woman’s perspective, and they should. I don’t know why that is.

“I’ve had emails from guys saying, ‘You know what, I never thought of such-and-such that way’. Maybe it’s a good thing when they do think of it like that. It’s a pity many men aren’t comfortable reading from a woman’s perspective.”

Sheila’s 23rd novel, Her Husband’s Mistake, hit shelves in recent weeks. It follows mother of two, Roxy, as she tries to come to terms with the fact that her husband Dave cheated on her. Roxy as a character was inspired by the women the author knows who always put others first.

“I know a lot of women like her in a lot of ways. The woman that has said, ‘I’m going to put my own stuff on hold while I have my family’. It’s not that she doesn’t want to do that; that’s a choice and she’s happy to do it,” explains Sheila.

“A lot of women make that choice and happily make it. They may come to that decision, but it does mean you put your kids first. A lot of women too, they put their parents ahead of themselves as well, because their parents are getting a little older.

“So they’re running around looking after everybody and they’re not looking after themselves. Honestly, I know so many women like that. Fortunately not all of them have come home to find their husband in bed with somebody else (as Roxy did in the book).”

Finance to fiction

Growing up in Dublin, Sheila was a prolific reader, encouraged by her parents. She also began writing at a young age. One day she asked her mother what happened next in her favourite book and the answer that came was to write more chapters herself.

Interestingly, before Sheila took to penning novels in her 30s, she worked in a very different world – that of finance. When she left school getting a job was the number-one priority and finance seemed like quite a good option.

“When I got in there, I got interested in it, because it was just completely new to me. The other thing was that I got in touch with my inner competitiveness and I wanted to do well. I did the banking exams, I got promoted, I moved on.

I haven’t missed finance, but for a long time I didn’t throw out my suits and my briefcases

“But I guess when I got into my 30s I said, ‘This isn’t really where I want to be for the rest of my life’. I wrote lots of opening chapters and abandoned them and I wrote lots of novellas. One day I just said, ‘If you’re going to do it, do it now’.”

On whether or not she wishes she got to writing novels sooner, Sheila is pragmatic. “I haven’t missed finance, but for a long time I didn’t throw out my suits and my briefcases. Sometimes I miss that vibe, but I don’t miss the work.

There’s a part of me that regrets not coming to writing sooner

“I enjoyed working in an office, but I like doing my own thing now. I did enjoy the stuff that went on, because sometimes it was very interesting. There was a lot of people watching you could do there. It was right for me at the time when I made that move, it was absolutely right.

“There’s a part of me that regrets not coming to writing sooner and there’s a part of me that says, ‘Well I had a lot of experience of other things when I came to writing, so I was able to look at loads of different issues and write about them’.”

With real life experience and reflecting real women in writing, Sheila’s fiction is sure to continue to captivate readers the world over.

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