Haunting new novel inspired by abandoned Galway island

Lifestyle –  Judy Murphy talks to US-born writer Lisa Carey whose latest book of dark magic was sparked by visit to Inishark

The abandoned island of Inishark that rises out of the Atlantic seven miles off the north Galway coast was the inspiration for The Stolen Child, the latest novel from US-born writer Lisa Carey.

It’s a haunting, beautiful book about a close-knit community where pagan superstitions and Catholic beliefs exist side by side, and where dark magic simmers just below the surface.

Worlds collide when an American woman comes to live on her mother’s birthplace of St Brigid’s Island. The woman does so at a time when the few families on this isolated place without electricity, running water, doctors, priests or even a properly functioning pier, are being encouraged by the Irish government to move to the mainland. But this stranger, named Brigid, wants the islanders to stay for her own reasons.

She carries magic in her hands, as does a young island woman, Emer. When the two meet, they realise they share a secret. The magic they possess – good and bad – will not be contained and its consequences are far-reaching.

The Stolen Child has been described by Lisa’s fellow-novelist Belinda McKeown as “a novel to devour”, while Irish Times reviewer Sarah Keating declared that it “casts a spell upon the reader in its opening prologue and does not let go until the final, devastating moments”.

It’s the fifth novel from Lisa, but her first to be published outside America – the UK, Irish and Commonwealth publishing rights were bought by UK publishers Weidenfeld & Nicolson.  She’s delighted to see it on Irish bookshelves as well as in the US where it’s being published by Perennial, HarperCollins.

Lisa lived in Ireland from 1995 to 2000, and it’s where she wrote her first book, The Mermaids Singing, in a “quiet, beautiful place”.

That place was Inishbofin, divided from Inishark by a narrow, but treacherous stretch of sea.

Inishark’s remaining six families were moved to the mainland in Autumn 1960. Inishbofin, with its larger population and somewhat superior services, survived to see better days and, while not without its problems, has a thriving community.

Lisa’s grandparents were originally from Renvyle in North Connemara and she grew up in America hearing about the Renvyle peninsula, especially the stunning beaches such as Glassilaun and Lettergesh. Eventually, she visited in the early 1990s, staying with family and creating her own memories.

“I graduated from college and asked for a trip to Ireland. My grandparents had come back to go on the beach, and a couple of cousins too, but I went with a friend from college.”

Then Lisa discovered nearby Inishbofin and was captivated.

“It’s the sort of place people come to for a weekend and stay for an entire summer,” she says with a laugh.

Lisa’s connection was even greater – she spent five years there. During that time, she graduated from Vermont College with a Masters in Fine Art, which she added to her BA from Boston college.

“I’ve always had a writing bug,” says Lisa who was born outside Boston. “It started as a reading bug; reading was my favourite thing to do – novels especially.”

So much so, that she remembers asking her dad if she could get a job writing the blurbs for book covers.

“At school, writing was always easier than maths or science. Writing an essay, I was relaxed. But I kept it a secret until after college.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.