Monica McInerney credits childhood eavesdropping with shaping her writing
Childhood eavesdropping from her family home's roof shaped novelist Monica McInerney's curiosity about people.
McInerney spent hours reading and eavesdropping from the roof of her family's house in Clare, South Australia. From that spot she heard her parents discuss their seven children, her sisters talk about relationships, and neighbours chat with her parents.
McInerney traces her novelist's curiosity to those moments. Writers need fragments of intriguing stories to spark imagination, she says.
Overhearing strangers' conversations in cafés, buses and restaurants feeds her work. She even lip-read like Irish author Maeve Binchy to catch private dialogue.
Her new novel When Sullivan Met Lola features two characters bonded by their intense interest in other people. McInerney says a moral dilemma about a friend's husband affair she overheard in a café will likely find its way into a future book.
- Clare, South Australia
- Family home location
- seven
- Number of children
- When Sullivan Met Lola
- Current novel
Why it mattersIt shows how writers gather real human moments from ordinary encounters to fuel compelling fiction.
AustraliaAustralian readers of Monica McInerney's new novel now understand the childhood inspiration behind her character-driven storytelling.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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