Set in a world where a virus stalks our male population, The End of Men is an electrifying and unforgettable debut from a remarkable new talent that asks: what would our world truly look like without men?
We chat with debut author Christina Sweeney-Baird about The End of Men, writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Christina! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m an author and lawyer who is very excited for my debut novel to be released, and to re-enter bookshops now that they are opening back-up in the UK! I love writing and reading speculative fiction, and live in London in a flat that has too many books and not enough space.
How’s your 2021 going in comparison to that other year?
Honestly, pretty good! 2020 was a rollercoaster for me of selling my novel to publishers in January (a dream come true) and then catching COVID in March and dealing with the strange horror of a pandemic. I was very lucky to spend lots of time with my family at home in Scotland and I read 100 books so those were plus sides I hung on to. This year has involved a lot of writing for my next book, being vaccinated and feeling hopeful and excited about my book’s release and the beginning of a return to normality.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
First book I remember reading was the children’s book series Tom and Kate which is about siblings in the UK who wear wellies (rainboots for American readers!) and jump in puddles. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn made me want to become an author. I read it when I was thirteen and still have that copy. Even though I write speculative thrillers which are obviously very different to historical romance, I try to make sure there’s a wryness to my characters, with bubbles of humour. That’s inspired by Julia Quinn for sure. And I can’t stop thinking about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue which was the first book I read this year and, frankly, for a while, I was worried it was so good it had ruined me for all future books.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I secretly wrote all the way through my teens. I liked writing essays and trying to make them funny and from about fourteen I wrote the beginnings of novels. I knew I wanted to write prose but didn’t really read short stories so I just kept trying to write novels. Over the years, I got further and further with them (for context, I think I only hit 15,000 words when I was 19 so it was slow progress!). I finally started a novel I finished when I was 23 and finished it was 25. I started writing The End of Men two days later.
Your debut novel, The End of Men, is out April 27th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Gripping, emotional, speculative, hopeful, prescient.
What can readers expect?
The End of Men is a hyper-realistic speculative fiction novel set between 2025 and 2031 in which a virus, to which women are immune, quickly wipes out 90 per cent of the world’s men. The book is told through a range of first-person perspective, like Amanda who is the Glaswegian A and E doctor; Catherine who is an anthropologist in London with a husband and a young sun; and Toby, a man who is stuck on a ship with several hundred other people, and they can’t return to shore in case they catch the virus. It’s a gripping story that shows the short-term impact of men – and only men – dying in high numbers. How do people try to keep themselves, and their families, safe? What would happen in hospitals and to Parliament and to food supplies? And then, over the years, how do things change? It explores how the world would adapt and be restructured with a sudden massive gender imbalance, both what that new world would look and feel like.
Where did the inspiration for The End of Men come from?
I read World War Z by Max Brooks in my early twenties and it made a huge impression on me. I loved the narrative style with multiple characters’ stories shown and how real the world felt. Then I read The Power by Naomi Alderman in early 2018 and thought, ‘That’s what happens if there’s a world in which women are physically more powerful than men, but what happens if men suddenly disappear?’ When I was rewriting the book in September, October and November 2019 for my agent I also read Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel which had a big influence on the emotional aspects of the story. I tried to make The End of Men feel as engaging and gripping as Station Eleven does.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
I work full-time as a corporate litigation lawyer in London so making sure I have the time and bandwidth to write is sometimes a struggle. I’ve been writing consistently now for four and a half years whilst working so I feel like I’m used to it but I find daily writing trackers (with a minimum of 500 words a day or 1000 depending on how busy I am) and thirty minute work sprints helpful. I can generally always find thirty minutes at a time which makes it feel less overwhelming. I highly recommend V.E.Schwab’s Instagram account for useful productivity and writing tips.
In terms of the writing process, I found structuring the book in the best way difficult. The first draft had over forty perspectives that my agent and I then winnowed down to three core women and a few additional sections from others. That involved a massive rewrite which was challenging but also made the book so much better. I try to remember that the work is never wasted – even if it takes lots of drafts and rewrites and feels like you’re going in circles, the time and thought counts in the end.
If it’s not too spoilery, were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
There’s a Canadian virologist called Dr Lisa Michael who is trying to invent a vaccine who has a really clear, purposeful voice and is quite funny. She almost wrote herself and I’ve been thrilled that early readers have reacted so strongly to her. I love tidy endings to books – not a fan of ambiguous endings – and it’s really important to me that a book feels well-plotted and has a satisfying conclusion to characters’ stories. The final section of the book is, I think, my favourite of the whole story.
In terms of the characters who are my favourites as people, I would be friends with Amanda and Catherine for sure – we would have a good time gossiping over a glass of wine and putting the world to rights.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
It’s been about four and a half years from committing to finishing a novel to being published which both feels very quick and very slow. I wrote an entire historical novel that was never published which took me two years from October 2016 to August 2018. And so I went through the process of querying and not getting anywhere – if you’re a writer and your first novel hasn’t gotten you represented or published, keep going! I knew as soon as I had the idea for The End of Men that I needed to write it but I finished the first novel before I started writing End of Men. I think it’s so easy to end up with unfinished manuscripts but the next idea will always be more exciting than the idea you’ve been working on for years.
Once I had a finished draft of The End of Men, I queried and signed with my agent (who is wonderful and a genius editor). I rewrote it very quickly, writing about 100,000 words in three months. I just wanted the book to be done! Then it went on submission in January 2020 and here we are, a year and a bit later.
Now, whilst this is your debut novel, the film rights have already sold! Do you have any hopes and dreams for a film adaptation?
I would so love to see The End of Men on screen! I’m hoping that things move forward this year especially as the pandemic starts to abate. In my head I see Catherine as Carey Mulligan or Romola Garai, and one of my friends said she thought Anthony, Catherine’s husband, should be played by Tom Hiddleston and now I can’t unsee it.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
The best advice is almost entirely from my agent, Felicity Blunt. The work is never wasted. Think about setting – what is this character seeing, feeling, smelling, hearing? Be specific and not just about hair colour or eyes; there are so many more interesting things to use to describe a person. And what are the stakes? There have to be stakes so the reader can’t put the book down. I also recommend the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert which is a lot more practical and no-nonsense than the title would suggest about writing and balancing creativity with a full-time job.
Worst advice is to only write what you know. As a speculative author and a huge fantasy/speculative fiction fan, that would make for some limited reading material. Admittedly, the best world-building is grounded in elements of our lives – what we eat, where we live, how money works, how medicine works etc. But we shouldn’t restrict ourselves when our imaginations can do so much.
What’s next for you?
I’m currently writing my next speculative fiction novel and I’m also writing a YA novel which I’m going to do a third draft of this Summer. On a more personal level, I’m excited to meet readers, booksellers and other authors once events can be in person again!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
So many. I loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E.Schwab and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller which are my favourite books of the year so far. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny is a superbly funny novel and I really enjoyed The Push too. For speculative fiction fans, Red Clocks by Leni Zumas is wonderful. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell is historical and made me weep and is so lyrically written, I loved it. In fantasy, I recently devoured the Daughter and Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor and the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas.
