We chat with author Caroline Madden about The Marriage Vendetta, which is a darkly funny feminist debut about a resentful stay-at-home wife and her vindictive marriage therapist
Hi, Caroline! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a writer and recovering business journalist. I live by the sea in Ireland with two children and one very small, very loud dog, and I spend a lot of time fantasising about having a library with a sliding ladder. Oh, and burning down the patriarchy (ssshhh, don’t tell anyone!).
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I was very shy as a child and so I loved disappearing into books. I had delusions of grandeur about becoming an author and began writing a really terrible novel at the age of 10 which, fortunately for the world, I abandoned after the first chapter.
I forgot about my dream of becoming a writer until one evening in my twenties when I was sitting in a lecture on corporation tax and was so bored I found myself writing the opening of a novel instead of taking notes. It was a eureka moment – I suddenly remembered my love of writing.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: My earliest memory is my father getting home from work and sitting down with me to read Richard Scarry’s brilliantly illustrated Busy, Busy Town. I loved reading it again with my own children when they were little.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Probably Jane Eyre which I read at least ten times. I also read a lot of P.G. Wodehouse as a teenager and that taught me the power of humor in writing.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. I return to it every time I need my head straightened out. So, quite regularly.
Your debut novel, The Marriage Vendetta, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Snarky. Feminist. Darkly-funny. Quirky. Empowering.
What can readers expect?
The Marriage Vendetta follows Eliza, a resentful stay-at-home wife who receives an anonymous photo of her husband Richard with another woman. As a last resort, Eliza visits a marriage therapist, Ms. Early, who is quite… alternative in her approach, spurring Eliza on to commit a series of increasingly bizarre acts, all in the name of “retraining” Richard.
As one reader said in a review, The Marriage Vendetta isn’t your typical marriage-gone-wrong story: “It’s more like if Gone Girl had a baby with Fleabag – and that baby grew up in Dublin with a really questionable therapist.” I love this take on it!
Where did the inspiration for The Marriage Vendetta come from?
Years ago, I stumbled across the story of the incredibly talented 18th century English soprano, Eliza Linley. After Eliza ran away to France with a penniless young Irishman called Richard Brinsley Sheridan (who went on to become a famous playwright and politician), and then married him, he banned her from returning to the stage even though they desperately needed money.
Eliza captivated me and wouldn’t let go. The Marriage Vendetta is a (loose) modern retelling of her story.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I had so much fun writing the sessions between Eliza and her unorthodox therapist. In these scenes, I wanted to subvert the reader’s expectation of the clichéd, patronising relationship advice often doled out to women by relationship ‘experts’.
Eliza’s therapist goes way, way too far, but I wanted to make the point that too often, women are simply told they just need to communicate better if they want to fix their relationship problems – as if they hadn’t already thought of that!
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
I initially wrote the story of Eliza and Richard as a historical novel. When it got rejected by most major publishers (twice) I set it aside. A few years and another unpublished novel later, I came back to the idea and decided to rewrite it from scratch, transporting the characters to a contemporary Dublin setting. My luck really turned when I created a female protagonist seething with quiet resentment – this seemed to resonate with a lot of editors!
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a novel called The Village, set in a secretive radical feminist community designed specifically to support mothers and children. It asks the question: what would women be willing to do to protect a female-centric utopia? (Spoiler alert: a lot!)
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
This year I’ve been mainly reading feminist non-fiction and female rage/horror novels as research for my next novel. Most recently, I’ve devoured Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism by Kristen R. Ghodsee and The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin.
I’m dying to get stuck into The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, Animal by Lisa Taddeo and Home is Where We Start, Susanna Crossman’s memoir about growing up in a utopian commune in England. Also on my TBR pile is the feminist economics book Deficit by Emma Holten which looks completely fascinating.
