Heartbreak and hope in searing teenage novel

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Galway author Deirdre Sullivan has created a powerful heroine in her latest novel, Needlework, which will receive its Galway launch in Dubray Bookshop, Shop Street, next Friday, March 18.

Needlework’s central character is 17-year-old Ces, who is trying to reclaim her body and discover her self-worth after years of abuse and domestic violence at the hands of her father.

She and her mother, Laura, have finally escaped, but Laura has gone into meltdown so Ces has been pretty much left to fend for herself.

She’s in school, has a part-time job and must keep the house in order as her mother is suffering from depression and only gets up to go to work or to meet her new boyfriend.

Ces – who was named after her father, Francis, but will not use the full version of her name because of what he has done – is emotionally damaged too, but must keep going.

She finds comfort and escape in the world of tattooing – learning her trade on pigskin and dreaming up designs for when she can actually practise on human flesh.

“The topic of abuse is a delicate one, so I was conscious of doing it justice,” says Deirdre, originally from Galway City and now living in Dublin where she teaches children with autism.

She began writing the story after hearing a first-hand account from somebody who had experienced violence at home. While that planted the seed, her novel has taken its own journey.

“I let it percolate and the story is very different,” says Deirdre, who is so passionate about this subject she could speak on it for hours.

She points out that one in three women will experience domestic abuse of some sort.

“But you don’t realise how prevalent it is until you start talking. Then everybody has a story.”

Deirdre Sullivan has already carved out a reputation as a writer for young adults, with her Prim series of three novels.

The first two, Prim Improper and Improper Order, were shortlisted for the Children’s Books Ireland awards, while the final one, Primperfect, was also shortlisted for the European Prize for Literature. It was only YA novel to be nominated for this award from any European country.

Needlework is also about a teenager girl.

“I always write about teenage girls and what would it be like to be going through things as a teenager. It’s what interests me,” Deirdre explains.

But Needlework is her darkest work yet, albeit with hope at the end. Ces is beautifully drawn, funny, angry and very damaged, but determined not to be a victim. And, given what she has experienced, that’s not easy.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.