Marian Keyes isn’t one for numbers.

“Is it 16?” she asks with a giggle. “I’ve written 16 books? Really? Now I really feel old.”

Joking aside, the 61-year-old Irish scribe is going stronger than ever these days.

“I’ve had a good run at writing over the past while,” she shares via Zoom from her home on the Emerald Isle. “I was really happy with the new book, so I am enjoying time away from it time, doing and seeing things in a new and different way.”

At 61, the award-winning Irish author has reason to feel good; adding to an array of past accolades, awards and accomplishments, her latest narrative – My Favourite Mistake – has made multiple bestseller lists since being published a few months back.

The story spans familiar territory for Keyes, as she brings us back into the world of the Walsh sisters – in this case, Anna, a PR executive in New York who is transitioning back to a quieter life in Ireland amidst a plenitude of personal and professional changes.

“I addressed several issues that impact women who are over 40. Many of my readers are of that demographic and are passing through a point in their lives where they are questioning who they are, where they are from, and where they are going – like Anna. I mean, you get to a certain age and the priorities are different, especially now when so many of us are searching for greater meaning in our daily lives.”

She notes that her own self-described “spiritual journey” of the last 30 years continues to inform her writing.

“It is largely unconscious, I believe, and it has been mostly in the last ten years. I’ve picked up these little life lessons that I managed to work into my books; that people don’t exist as absolutes; that there is bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us. My characters now reside in more of a moral and spiritual grey area, perhaps as things are no longer as black and white as they once were. They are far more nuanced.

“My earlier work was centered in large part around love stories,” she continues “And my approach to men, or my male characters, was that they were either rats or saviours. Of course, being older and supposedly wiser, and having been married for some time, I realized that is a shallow and immature perspective.”

Like her Emerald Island peers, Keyes comes by her taletelling honestly.

“I’m Irish. I am a storyteller – it’s what we do. I am proud to be a storyteller, and I feel that I have become better at it over time.”

 Make no mistake, however – her writing is absolutely rooted in the country’s grand oral tradition.

“There are many reasons why the Irish are so good at spinning a yarn. For centuries here, the political and cultural landscape was stripped away from us; we weren’t allowed to speak our language, it was illegal to own land or to have a profession or to practice our religion. All we had left were words and music. And English is spoken and written differently in Ireland because we have a different linguistic foundation. We have the same words that are used in Anglo-English, but Hibernian-English is constructed very differently – sentences sound back to front, and they can sometimes sound illogical. But our words make sense to us, so that is why they are so valuable, and why we are well-known for our colourful use of them.”

Her own creative process can be quite colourful.

“It is mostly a couple of sparks of inspiration, and then the rest of it is work. And it takes a huge amount of work to create a single character and build a world around them. I usually start with one person and then try out different things and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. When it doesn’t it is painful, but I keep at it and hang on. To be honest, a lot of the time I don’t really know what I am doing until I know – an awful lot of it is done with uncertainty. But I trust that if I just keep plugging away at it and continue to put in the hours that it will all turn out ok.”

Her reasons for writing today are not far removed from why she first put pen to paper.

“It came from my wounds,” she shares. “It was my way of understanding and dealing with reality. Even now I find the world of my writing is a nice place to escape to. There are times, especially with this book, when I was filled with happiness and gratitude just from the act of writing itself.”

As such, the process proved to be therapeutic.

“Like anyone, I am a work in progress and still dealing with my inner stuff,” she says. “It is mostly shame, guilt, and fear. I have just learned to turn the volume on those things way down. And when they come now, I am much more aware of them and I know how to better mind myself – how to not act out in them, I mean. I now have the tools to deal with them and with my feelings.”

In that way, Keyes – like her characters – is relatable.

“Most people out there walking around are carrying something quite substantial – a weight or heaviness. And let’s be honest here – if a person isn’t carrying some sort of emotional or mental baggage around with them by the time they hit 40 or 50 years of age, then they simply haven’t been living.”

As such, she hopes that her writing will continue to resonate with readers for years to come.

“I have always wanted my books to be like Trojan Horses – yes, they may seem a bit fluffy or whatnot at times, especially the romance stuff, but there are always hidden layers at play – deeper meanings and messages that will, hopefully, have a positive impact on someone’s life. I mean, ultimately, that is the role of the writer and the artist in society; to reflect their times and to help people better understand and deal with their reality.”

Interestingly, Keyes’ reality might look a little different going forward.

“In a strange set of circumstances, I am doing something entirely different – I am giving myself a year off to go back to school to study interior design. Anytime that I have taken other breaks from books, I have done something new like painting or upcycling. Interior design is quite interesting, but it is not what I expected all. It is very technical, with lots of technical drawing. But I am beyond delighted to be learning to see space, light, colour, texture and perspective in a new and different way.”

mariankeyes.com
@marian_keyes