Why Catherine Airey took a break from reading novels while writing Confessions

Where did the idea for Confessions come from?

The idea developed pretty slowly. I had to do a lot of writing to work out what the novel was going to become. That said, it’s not a coincidence that the novel starts on the day of 9/11 in New York City. I started writing in September 2021, twenty years after the attacks, so it would have been in the media. I’d also just moved from London to a small fishing village in Ireland, which informed the Burtonport sections of Confessions. 

Who was your favourite character to write?

That’s a tough one. I’ve always admired novels where the story is told through multiple narrators, and I was eager to give this a try myself. It was nice having a different voice to turn to if I was struggling with one of the timelines, and they’d help inform each other. Some of my favourite parts, though, are when more secondary characters are given a backstory over a couple of pages – like when Maire tells us about Isabel’s fertility struggle or when Roisin recounts what Scarlett has told her about her childhood. I’m interested in how we turn our lives into stories and how the people we tell these stories to might repurpose them.

What kind of research did you do for the book?

I knew I wanted to write a novel where the characters were aware of and impacted by things that were going on in the real world around them. For the Irish parts, there were two books in particular I kept returning to: On Our Backs: Sexual Attitudes in a Changing Ireland by Rosita Sweetman and We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole. While writing, I often consulted Google Street View and Wikipedia for accuracy, but my favourite internet source was Reddit because it’s so anecdotal. Threads where people had posted photos of offices in the World Trade Center before 9/11, or where people recalled what New York City was like for ordinary people in the days that followed the attacks.

Are there any books/authors/artworks that influenced you writing?

Sympathy by Olivia Sudjic – her debut novel –  also set in New York. It’s messy in all the good ways and made me excited about doing my own writing. Also, anything by Jonathan Franzen – I love that he writes big novels, told through multiple perspectives, so you see the characters from different angles.

What’s your #1 tip for aspiring authors?

Try not to get too caught up in editing your writing in the first few chapters. Keep pressing on, even if it feels like what’s coming out is dreadful. It will all start to take shape later.

A fact or tid-bit you think might help readers understand your book better?

While I was writing Confessions, I was living with a woman who’d spent many years in the commune known as The Screamers. There’s lots about them online, and their founder Jenny James has written about their time in Burtonport and beyond. In the novel, I focused on how this group would have appeared from the outside, particularly to the locals. But their way of living was truly fascinating and worth looking into if you want to know more.

What surprised you must about the publishing process?

There’s so much waiting! Confessions was bought by Penguin in April 2023, but didn’t come out until January 2025, so nearly a two year wait. At times I found this really difficult, especially when people asked me about my book but they couldn’t buy it. I also had no idea how many debut novels come out each year, and it was a bit daunting to realise mine was one of many – especially on social media where it’s easy to compare yourself to others.

What advice would you give to someone who’s currently working on their own debut novel?

Respect your voice. I’m very easily influenced by other novels, which can be a bit self-destructive. I actually had to take a bit of a break from reading novels while I was writing so I could let my own voice come out naturally. Equally, it can be quite motivating to read novels where you don’t love the writing, books that make you think ‘I could do that and do it better’.