Hi, Louise! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hi, my name is Louise Nealon. I am an Irish writer. My first novel, Snowflake was published in 2021. My second novel Everything That Is Beautiful is out now. It is set in rural Ireland and follows the lives of three women in the lead up to a family wedding.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

The first book I remember reading is a pop-up book of Alice in Wonderland. I still have it on my bookshelf. It’s battered from years of pulling it apart in order to see how the magic worked. As I got older, I developed a habit of rereading books, annotating pages, underlining words and sentences. It’s something I continue to do to this day.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: A pop-up book of Alice in Wonderland.
• The one that made you want to become an author: A pop-up book of Alice in Wonderland.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: The novel I’m writing now.

Your latest novel, Everything That Is Beautiful, is out August 4^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

One man’s actions change everything.

What can readers expect?

Everything That Is Beautiful is a novel that follows three women in the lead up to an Irish wedding. Helen Foley is the wife of retired sporting legend, Liam Foley. She is also a mother and grandmother who spends her time checking into guesthouses under the maiden names of her former classmates. Her daughter, Kate, lives in Belfast and carries the weight of a family secret she tried to expose three years earlier. Niamh Ryan is a neighbour who was raised in the Foley household and an honorary family member until one night changed everything. Not everyone in the Foley family is aware of this change, including Peter, who Niamh has loved since they were kids.

Where did the inspiration for Everything That Is Beautiful come from?

I don’t know where the inspiration for writing a novel comes from. Even after a novel is written, the temptation is there to create a simple narrative as to where it came from, but that would be a fabrication, too. The epigraph that opens the novel is from a poem by Muriel Rukeyser and reads, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?/ The world would split open.” I had that quote pinned to a corkboard by my desk as I wrote. Everything That Is Beautiful is a work of fiction which holds a very real energy. I wanted to write the kind of story where there are no easy truths or answers. I also wanted the Foleys to feel like a family who lived down the road from me, who I could have a laugh with – and they do.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

One day, halfway through a draft of the novel, I was sitting in an empty church when I heard birds twitter. I looked up and saw their shadows flutter behind stained-glass windows. I knew that I was going to give that moment to one of my characters, and that it would open up the story somehow. The cover of the book is based on that experience – it’s surreal to see it manifested in such a physical way.

I found it challenging to write about hurling – a national sport of Ireland, and one of the oldest and fastest field sports in the world. Hurling is an amateur sport, but those selected to play for their county train to a professional level and become national heroes. Liam Foley is a retired hurling player. Niamh is his protégé, and captain of her local team. I grew up playing camogie (the female equivalent of hurling) and have always wanted to write about it. It was difficult to capture the emotions that come with playing such a tribal sport that is tied so deeply to a strong sense of shared identity.

With Everything That Is Beautiful told through three women, how did you approach keeping the perspectives distinct?

Helen, Kate and Niamh deal with the events of the novel in radically different ways. They can no longer speak openly to each other, or even process what has happened in the privacy of their own heads. For this reason, I knew that the story couldn’t be told in the first person. In the early stages of drafting the story, I tied myself up in knots wondering who the third person narrator was and how much they knew about the characters. I slowly realised the narrator was me and only knew as much as I was willing to write.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

In my experience, writing a novel involves all kinds of challenges, many of them emotional. I used to be embarrassed by the kinds of tantrums I threw to get out of doing my job, but reading other writers discussing their work has eased my shame. At the moment, I’m reading a book called The Agony and the Ego: The Art and Strategy of Fiction Writing Explored edited by Clare Boylan. In her essay, ‘Growing A Tale,’ Hilary Mantel says, “In my daily work, minimizing terror is my object.” She mentions using a corkboard when she begins writing (or growing) a novel, pinning every word or idea that she can think of to propagate more. I have a similar process. When I get stuck, I go for a walk or a nap or have a cup of coffee. The trick is to keep coming back to the page and to minimize the terror, as Mantel would say.

What’s next for you?

I am currently working on my third novel.

Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up? Any you’ve read so far this year that you’ve enjoyed?

I have just finished reading The Most Normal Woman: Essays on Appearances by Roisin Kiberd, a powerful collection exploring the beauty industry. I also read and loved Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, a book that blends history with fiction and explores both memory and erasure with profound empathy and grace.

Will you be picking up Everything That Is Beautiful? Tell us in the comments below!

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