Told through alternating points of view, Rachel Donohue’s debut novel skillfully, gradually, lets the reader into the hearts and minds of both Louisa and the determined reporter. Th is page-turner is perfect for fans of Elisabeth Thomas’s Catherine House or Kate Elizabeth Russell’s My Dark Vanessa.
We chat with author Rachel Donohue about her debut novel The Temple House Vanishing, along with writing, book recommendations, and more!
Hi, Rachel! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I live in Dublin and work in free lance communications. I’ve been writing and publishing short stories for a number of years in Ireland and in 2017 won the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award for short fiction. The Temple House Vanishing is my first novel, it’s published by Algonquin Books and is available in US bookshops now.
How has the first half of 2021 been for you?
We were in lockdown for most of 2021 so home schooling along with creating one’s own amusement have been the main themes. My two daughters and my dog have really helped on this front, and books. Thankfully life is opening up here lately, and we are very grateful for our returning freedoms and aware that we are lucky to be safe and well.
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: Odd and the Great Bear by Jame Roose Evans. The story centres on a small bear called Odd who lives in London and decides to go on a journey to find out who he is because he doesn’t know any other bears. He ends up in Wales looking for the great bear of King Arthur’s legend and spends most of the story in a great deal of peril.
I was always a reader but this story triggered my first real, deep empathy for a character. I worried about Odd and wanted things to work out for him. He seemed completely real to me and his search for his identity mattered. I think storytelling itself came alive for me after reading this book.
One that made me want to be an author: There are honestly so many but I think The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides was a real influence. I loved it as a teenager – the mood and the atmosphere were so unique. I remember thinking I would love to write something dark, odd and magical like this. I also loved Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, his ability to create a whole world, filled with these unusual and memorable characters was really inspiring to me, and remains so. I think storytelling should be filled with wonder and magic and both these books have that.
One you can’t stop thinking about: I recently read Memorial Drive by Natasha Trethewey, a memoir about her mother’s death and it has really lingered with me. The sense of trauma and loss at her mother’s murder and the impact of this terrible and violent act on her own life is captured so hauntingly. In excavating this pain so honestly and through the most beautiful use of language she manages however to retrieve her mother and herself from a lost past. I found it a profoundly moving book about memory, love and loss. She is an exceptional writer.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
I know from very young I was obsessed with words and their meaning but I recently discovered a hoard of stories I wrote as a child when cleaning out the attic of my parents house.
They were written when I was about eight or nine and most are signed “a novel”, and helpfully include my age. They were obviously still important to twenty-something me who must have dragged the box between rental flats and house moves.
This discovery makes me think it was always there, the desire to tell a story but in practical terms I struggled for a long time with confidence, I had to take down some internal barriers before I was able to start writing.
Your new novel, The Temple House Vanishing, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Gothic, atmospheric, languorous, haunting and compelling.
What can readers expect?
A lonely, Catholic boarding school; some strict nuns; a bohemian art teacher; mean rich girls; obsession; mystery; jealousy, 1990s cultural references; a lost scholarship student, a plucky journalist and forbidden love.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
It was my first novel so there was a lot of learning involved. I played tricks on myself to keep going and pushing through. You sort of do not know what you are doing, which is both good and bad.
In general though I felt on a kind of dreamy, high most of the time when working on it. I just had to write the story regardless and that was quite freeing creatively. You have to focus on the story and not worry about how it might be received. You hope it might resonate with someone but It is all about doing your absolute best for the story you are trying to tell.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved writing the school itself, I had a very visual sense of it and it became a real place I went to every day. I have an affection for ruined buildings and atmospheric settings so I was really able to indulge that part of myself in the words.
In terms of characters I found Louisa heart breaking to write at times, she is lost and vulnerable. I put a lot of my own fears of being dislocated and abandoned into the writing of her character.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
It’s one and the same piece of advice – look for feedback. You need feedback, but not just from anyone. The wrong advice can be fatal. I think look for feedback, but think carefully about who and where you seek it from. Be wise in seeking counsel.
What’s next for you?
I ‘ve started working on my third book (my second novel has just been published in the UK and Ireland) and it’s at the early tantalising stage where I keep almost glimpsing what’s going on and who is there. I find my characters elusive and aloof at the start of the writing process and trying to track them down keeps me curious.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
I am currently reading Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and find it quite captivating. It is both a prequel and reckoning to Jane Eyre.
I also recommend, particularly for anyone working on their writing at the moment, to read A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders. It is like attending a masterclass on short fiction and writing generally.
