Mjarchitect
asked
Tana French:
One of the great things about your books is the setting and culture of Ireland. Given your background, do different cultures have different tendencies toward violence? In other words, if your setting was somewhere else would your stories be different? Regards, MJ
Tana French
I think the stories would definitely be different if they were set in another time and/or place. Murder happens everywhere, but the reasons for it vary wildly, and they say a lot about the society in which the murder is committed - its priorities, its fears, its taboos and its dark places. The murder in Faithful Place stems to a large extent from a very Irish sense of family - it might not happen in a more individualistic society. In Broken Harbour, the murder grows out of the insanity that enveloped much of the country during the Celtic Tiger, and the devastation it left in its wake - it wouldn't have happened in another place or even a few years earlier. In the mystery novels I love best, the murder becomes a window into the heart of the society where it happens.
More Answered Questions
A Goodreads user
asked
Tana French:
This is the second book that is centered around a group of friends who have turned each other into their family; who will do anything for each other. Does this inspiration for these close groups come from personal experience or is your draw to them more like how it is for Stephen (in the way that he envies it)?
Carrie Lallo
asked
Tana French:
A comment, rather than a question; One of the most powerful devices in your books is auditory description. I have never read an author whose descriptions of the sounds of places are so powerful and haunting. I work hard on visual descriptions when I write, but rarely consider how things sound. I adore your writing. Keep going!
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