Catherine Dunne
As part of the Listowel Writers’ Week festival, I had chance to catch up with top crime writer, Catherine Dunne…
Catherine Dunne
Is it really possible to make choices for ourselves in isolation, to decide on a course of action that feels right to us, but may be outside acceptable social and moral norms?
We may all be individuals, but our choices have an impact on the communities of which we are part. In that sense, even without wishing it, we are also choosing for others.
In my book, Julia makes a decision that she believes to be ethical. A reader might disagree – I might disagree – but, nonetheless, she has made a choice and acts upon it. In one way, the consequences are immediate – and I don’t want to elaborate here, as I have no wish to spoil any of the dramatic tension of the novel for potential readers.
Julia remains consistent in her belief that she behaved correctly and ethically. However, when the wider community becomes involved, she is forced to reassess that choice – and is honest enough to see that issues do not lose their moral complexity simply because we have chosen a particular course of action.
And this is one of the purposes of fiction: to explore such dilemmas without the imperative of delivering a ‘right’ or a ‘final’ answer...
[Click the link to read the rest of Missing Julia - An interview with Catherine Dunne]
