Exploring Timeless Love and Rebellion: An Interview with Orna Ross on Her Novel "A Life Before"
Tell us about your forthcoming novel A Life Before.
Author Orna Ross has launched a Kickstarter Campaign to See a Maud Gonne Statue in Dublin.
A Life Before tells the coming-of-age stories of three young Irish people on the brink of life-changing decisions. Two of these are real-life people, with comprehensive historical records, and hugely well-known in Ireland: Maud Gonne, and Willie (WB) Yeats. The other is fictional, the uncle-father of the narrator, Rosy Cross, “the oldest woman in Ireland”.
It’s the first book in my Gonne-Yeats series. Each book in the series works as a standalone and together they form an epic biographical fiction sequence in which all the pieces jigsaw together. The series crosses 40 years around the turn of the 20th century. A Life Before kicks off in 1886, amidst land wars and class upheaval in Ireland, England and France, as revisited by Rosy a century later.
It weaves together the stories of an heiress questioning her privilege, an aspiring poet seeking true love, and a country laborer in desperate need. All three are exiled to London. As madness, death and destruction threaten their three very different lives, they must navigate emotional turmoil and societal challenges.
I’ve blended history and fiction to take readers on a journey filled with emotional twists and spiritual turns. The book offers a fresh perspective on bohemian lifestyles in Dublin, London, and Paris in the 1880s, while uncovering lesser-known aspects of the lives of the famous poet, the revolutionary activist, and the Irish people.
What inspired you to tell the story of Maud Gonne and WB Yeats?
Most people know Gonne as a famous beauty, the muse of the Nobel laureate poet WB Yeats, who immortalised her in the twentieth century's finest love poetry in English. And
I too came to Gonne through Yeats, when my English teacher, Miss McNamara, read us his poems for her. As a very moony teenager, who'd already had her heart broken more than once, I was immediately taken not just with the poetry, but with his story of unrequited love.
WB, or “Willie” as Maud knew him, carved a life-long poetic career out of his passion for Maud, and I couldn't get enough of it. Then, a few days into our work on Yeats, Miss McNamara casually mentioned that in his later years, the poet had transferred his romantic feelings from Maud to her daughter, and proposed marriage to the 23-year-old when he was almost 50. I was so aghast I cried out, “What? No. He couldn’t have.”, into the classroom, giving everyone great amusement.
That moment launched me on a lifetime’s interest in these two remarkable people and their remarkable circle. When I went to university, I learned more about Maud and her social and political work and achievements. The story looked very different when told from her point of view. Although she was fond of her friend Willie, he played a much smaller part in her life than she did in his.
The woman WB constructed in his poems was in many ways a myth. I’ve tried to reconstruct her in the round. She was very multi-faceted person, and a big achiever, as was he. They were both hugely admirable and hugely problematic in a way that speaks to human nature in every generation, absolutely ideal novel subjects for a writer interested in history, gender, and identity.
I’m also hugely interested in the lives of artists and writers, and the process of creativity, so the novels are also steeped in the bohemian world of 1880s Dublin and London and bear witness to Yeats’ artistic path and Maud’s attempts to create an inspiring identity for herself and the Irish people.
What strategies, such as creating a fictional narrator, did you use to craft a compelling narrative about Maud Gonne and WB Yeats?
Finding my way in was difficult. One part of me is petrified. What am I doing? Yeats! Gonne! They are huge! It was only when I started to hear the voice of Rosy Cross that I was able to write my way in. Rosy is a far braver woman than I am. And her family gave me the angle on the Irish and gender struggles that are central to the themes of the book. Besides that, it was my old friend, research! Once I know the details at the physical level how things sounded and smelled, what the characters tasted and touched, they come alive and take off.
Tell us about your Kickstarter campaign to erect a statue of Maud Gonne in Dublin? Why is this an important endeavor?
A statue of Maud Gonne on the streets of Dublin is long overdue. We desperately need more statues, and streets, and other public monuments and utilities named for historical women. (Read a Press Release about the campaign)
Dubin has lots of symbolic women. Molly Malone (Do you tart with a cart) two women shoppers (the hags with the bags), and so on. But only five statues representing historical women, and some of those are there for their associations with men. Similarly, only 27 of the 936 streets in the city centre are named after women, mostly saints and English queens. All three primary train stations, Heuston, Connolly, and Pearse, are named after men. No park in Dublin bears the name of a woman. And so on…
Erecting a Maud Gonne statue in Dublin would not only serve as a reminder of a great woman’s enduring legacy, and underscore the crucial roles women have played in shaping the city’s heritage. It would also continue to foster critical thinking about the politics of remembrance and commemoration, begun during the Decade of Centenaries. We expect this campaign to spark many fruitful conversations about diversity and remembrance.
We are determined that this woman who was so ahead of her time should see her time come now. In so many ways, Maud Gonne is an exemplar of how women's contributions to society are misinterpreted, minimised and overlooked.
What is the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and why should writers get involved?
ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors, (pronounced “ally”, al-eye not al-ee) is a non-profit, global association for self-publishing authors. It unites thousands of beginner, emerging and experienced indie authors from all over the world behind this mission. We are a Community Interest Company (CIC) and all profits are invested back in for the benefit of our members and the wider indie author community.
Whether an author is self-publishing their first book or their fiftieth, ALLi is with them every step of the way, with a suite of member benefits that includes free guidebooks, discounts and deals, member forums, contract consultancy, advisory board, literary agent for eligible members, a community watchdog desk and more.
When an author joins ALLi, they're not just joining an organization, they’re becoming part of a transformative, global, author movement.
What is your given name and why do you use a pseudonym?
It goes back to publishing my first novel, which was early 2003. My then publisher, Penguin, felt that my real name, Áine McCarthy, was a hindrance people would trip over. So they said go home, come up with something that's phonetic in English and easy to read, and easy for people to remember. Later that evening, I was calling my kids down for tea and I shouted “Ornagh! Ross!” and heard myself, and thought: Oooh, if I anglicise Ornagh to Orna, that kind of works. Orna Ross. Phonetic in English. Short and easy for book signings to boot! The kids thought it a great plan and Orna Ross was born.
I like having a pseudonym. For me, it’s a psychological buffer that keeps my personal life distinct and protected, though in my friendships with other authors, there’s now a lot of overlap. At the creative level, I find it invigorating. It adds an element of playfulness, frees me in ways I find difficult to fully explain. Áine McCarthy was a freelance journalist, full of opinions. Orna Ross is a storyteller, unbound by conventional constraints and her real-world identity. Even though it’s not a secret pseudonym, and heaps of people know, somehow it works.
What are some of your other published works?
I’ve published three other novels, Blue Mercy, a standalone, and the first two books in my Irish trilogy, After the Rising and Before the Fall, historical fiction based in Ireland and the US. But I’m a multi-genre author and I write across the three macro-genres of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
As a non-fiction author, I write advice and motivational guides, with a focus on creativity and self-care, an antidote to the fast-paced, quick-results world today’s creatives inhabit.
My fiction under Orna Ross has been a constant companion for most of my writerly life–a career now spanning four decades. My published work revolves around literary historical fiction. The novel Blue Mercy, weaves a tale of suspense with a long-standing family mystery. It has won the
My Irish Trilogy series comprises two books, After The Rising and Before The Fall. This trilogy is a tale of intergenerational trauma and romance. These books have collectively been finalised in the American Fiction Awards, and won the Book Readers Appreciation Group award, the Literary Titan Award, Book Readers Appreciation Group Award, International Firebird Book Award, Book Excellence Awards and the Goethe Book Award Grand Prize.
And I’ve also published a variety of award-winning poetry books.
Why did you get the rights back from your publisher in order to self-publish? Why do you call it the best move of your writing life?
I was an (accidental) literary agent for a brief period in my life and so when self-publishing came on the scene I immediately understood how revolutionary it was. It wasn't just an alternative route to market. It meant you could reach your reader while still retain full ownership of your intellectual property (IP). That changed everything.
I revelled in the creative freedom that allowed me to write what I wanted, how I wanted, without being constrained by the commercial considerations and editorial biases of publishers. I'd had both lovely experiences and horrendous experiences with my publishers but having the freedom to decide on cover design, formatting, and marketing approaches was hugely exciting to me. I could stay true to my artistic vision, while I learned, experimented and grew.
Also self-publishing gave me far better profits. and allowed me to reach readers in far more places. Most readers are shocked when they realize how little an author is paid in the traditional publishing world, often as little as 8% of a discounted sale price. This financial independence enables me to reinvest in my work, whether it's through marketing, hiring professional services, or furthering my own creative development.
The two hardest parts of being an author, writing and marketing, are things that others can't do for you these days. Readers want to known an author, see you are a real person, not an AI. I was hopeless at book marketing when I started, but it is a skill that we can learn, as we write and promote our books
Knowing I can create a publishing business out of my own books fosters a sense of accomplishment and pride in my work that has led on remarkable adventures. I'm happy to work with third-party publishers, but only within a context that makes sense for me and my business.
Tell us about your home, St Leonard's on Sea. Is it a good place for a working writer?
It’s wonderful. I’m within working distance of London, the best city in the world, but my home is five minutes from the sea and ten minutes from the woods. There’s an extraordinarily rich creative community here and I love small-town life. And for a historical fiction writer, being so close to historical Hastings is very interesting. I grew up in Wexford, in the south-east of Ireland and living here, in the south-east of England, I see many resonances, especially in the Norman invasion past. I feel a novel from that time coming on!
About the Author
Orna Ross is an award-winning Irish novelist and poet and founder and co-director of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).
An international bestseller, her writing awards include the Goethe Grand Prize for Historical Fiction and the Gold Literary Titan award for poetry, and she has been named one of the Top 100 People in Publishing for her work with ALLi.
