Maisie Moon’s Guilt follows a young Irish woman navigating the crushing weight of guilt, faith, and societal judgment in 1940s Catholic Ireland and post-war England in a journey of identity and redemption. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

My mother was a devout Catholic and came from Ireland. She travelled to England from Ireland in 1947 to train as a nurse and she ran a ward at an early age in Birmingham. So the first part of the book is modelled on my mother’s own experiences. However, she didn’t have a child out of wedlock, that was the fictional part to give her more flaws, and make her more relatable.

How did you balance the subtle supernatural elements with the gritty realism of Nancy’s story?

Yes, not so easy, as you do have to have an interest in the supernatural to suspend disbelief. I tried to make the experiences as realistic as possible. 

Nancy’s voice feels so raw and authentic. Was her character based on anyone you know or real historical accounts?

Nancy was based on my mother who passed in 2021 at the age of 93. She was feisty, opinionated, brave and with a heart of gold. As I said, previously, when I cared for her in the last month of her life, she recounted many of the hospital stories to me. So many of the stories are actually true.

With regards to the flashbacks, those are mixed with my own memories of meeting my cousins in Ireland at a young age.

What research did you undertake to capture the vivid details of post-war England and 1940s Ireland?

I did plenty of research as I love history. I used every available resource as I want the facts to be correct. I have to be careful not to info dump into my writing, as often I want the reader to enjoy the historical facts as much as I do, but sometimes I go into too much detail. It needs to be shown rather than told.

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