My new novel, The Stolen Child, was inspired by an Irish documentary.

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I watched Inishark: Death of an Island by Kieran Concannon in the TV room of Murray’s hotel on Inishbofin five years ago. I knew immediately that I wanted to write about an evacuated island and what happens during their last year. I used images from the documentary while writing my prologue, but, other than a few historical details, that is where the similarities end.

 

The documentary is about two communities of loving, hard-working, honest people. That’s not the kind of novel I write. I took the premise and turned it into a story of dark magic and “a brooding atmosphere full of such underlying menace that I couldn’t stop turning the pages.” (Arzu Tahsin)

 

I hope the islanders understand and forgive my artistic license. To see the real island, watch the documentary on YouTube.