Rachel Donohue
Author Interview - Rachel Donohue
Author of The Temple House Vanishing
Perched atop a seaside cliff in Ireland, a lonely Victorian mansion is home to Temple House School. Louisa is the new, brilliant scholarship student. Finding most of the other students at the all-girls Catholic boarding school as icy and unfamiliar as the drafty mansion, she forms a fierce bond with the intense and compelling Victoria, an outlier and student provocateur.
Their close bond is soon unsettled by the young, charismatic art teacher, Mr. Lavelle—igniting tension and obsession in the cloistered world of the school. Then one day, Louisa and Mr. Lavelle disappear.
There is no trace of either one. It’s the unsolved mystery that captivates the whole country. Year after year, the media revisit it, and the conspiracy theories persist. Now, on the twenty-fifth anniversary, a journalist—a woman who grew up on the same street as Louisa—delves into the past to write a series of articles and uncover the truth. She finds stories of jealousy and revenge, power and class. But will she find Louisa and Mr. Lavelle, too?
Author Interview - Rachel Donohue
Author I draw inspiration from: Kazou Ishiguru because his stories are rich, unsettling, original and transcend genre and time. You know what to expect when starting a new novel by Ishiguru, but also not. He is constantly surprising.
Author Interview - Rachel Donohue
Favorite place to read a book: Sitting outside a café with a nice coffee and friendly staff who don’t mind if you linger.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: It has to be Lily Bart in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. She is one of my favourite characters in any book, she is so alive but completely flawed and thwarted by her own failings and those of the society around her. When reading it I always want to catch her by the sleeve and give her advice. I also want to tell her it won’t always be like this, women will be able to have other lives, please don’t give up. It’s such a brilliant book.
Author Interview - Rachel Donohue
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: As a child I was obsessed with words, how they were spelt, the way they could have different meanings, even the fact of language itself sort of amazed me – that the word tree signified tree. I was also a huge reader.
I don’t remember a distinct moment though when I thought I wanted to be a writer, there was just always this love of language that over time became a sort of inner, whispering voice. It’s always trailing me and encouraging me to turn words into sentences, then finally into stories. It’s a voice that distances you a bit from life to some extent, I’ve always wanted to watch and observe rather than take part, which is both good and bad.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Paperback and hardback as a special treat.
The last book I read: Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. I loved it.
Author Interview - Rachel Donohue
Pen & paper or computer: Computer
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: When I was a teenager I think it would have been Ponyboy Curtis from The Outsiders by SE Hinton. He seemed cool but also thoughtful and creative. As an adult it would be Anne Elliot in Persuasion by Jane Austen, because she is wise, loyal and a bit disappointed in life which would make her hugely understanding.
Author Interview - Rachel Donohue
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Psychologist because I find people endlessly interesting and generally quite surprising. I would love to understand them more.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I think the (hopefully) post pandemic decade that we are entering now is turning out to be quite interesting fashion wise. The rules are breaking down as to what we should and should not wear. Fashion indicates status but I think even that notion is in flux at the moment. Nothing is certain. Interesting times.
Place I’d most like to travel: Iceland because it is such an unfamiliar landscape and would I imagine be wild, raw and thrilling to experience.
My signature drink: A hot whiskey beside a roaring fire in a small Irish pub. It would probably be raining and misty outside but inside there would be music and some random but good conversation.
Favorite artist: Kate Bush because there is something magical and other worldly to her art and her being, and Vincent Van Gogh because I love the purity of his vision.
Number one on my bucket list: To wander some bookstores in New York.
Anything else you'd like to add: It’s been lovely to chat, thank you.
Find more from the author:
Instagram - @rachellucydonohue
Author Bio: Rachel Donohue lives in Dublin, Ireland. In 2017 she won the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award for her short fiction. The Temple House Vanishing is her first novel
