Limerick book reviewer turns a page with debut novel
LIMERICK woman and book reviewer Sarah Gilmartin has turned a new page in her career with her debut novel.
After making a name for herself as a fiction reviewer for the Irish Times, Sarah decided to try her hand at writing her own book.
Dinner Party: A Tragedy was the result of her leap of faith that she cultivated while studying for a Creative Writing masters at UCD.
Sarah said she developed the novel while taking part in the course and the narrative grew from there.
“I wanted to write a book about family and I had an idea for a story where one member of the family hosts a dinner for the rest and things are going on beneath the surface.
“I grew and developed the novel from that, I had the space to let it grow while I was in the course”.
Sarah was born and raised in Limerick before she set off for Trinity College at 18 and she has stayed in Dublin since.
The Lisnagry woman credits her English teacher from when she was in secondary school at Laurel Hill Colaiste for encouraging her.
“I had a brilliant English teacher in the Coliaste, Sinéad Ní Chumhaill, she really got me into reading and writing.
“I am a good few years beyond secondary school but it is a nice feeling to have written a book and gotten it done.”
Sarah says that writing the book was a bit daunting due to her career as a book reviewer which up until that point was focused on critiquing debut novels.
“I think they are two very different disciplines, there are great fiction writers who don't do well as reviewers and there are brilliant critics who can't write novels themselves.
“There wasn't too much pressure on me and I was hopeful that I had learned a lot from the last seven or eight years reviewing that it might have helped me in my own writing."
The big question is, did she read the reviews of her own book?
“I did say I wasn't going to read the reviews but I ended up reading them all. Thankfully they have been positive!
“It was shortlisted in the Newcomer category at the Irish Book Awards too which is great”.
Sarah missed out on the top spot at the awards last week however her debut novel Dinner Party: A Tragedy is out now.