It’s my absolute pleasure today to welcome debut author Catherine Airey to Linda’s Book Bag to celebrate her brand new novel which is out today. My huge thanks to Marie-Louise Patton and Laura Dermody at Penguin Random House for putting us in touch with one another.
Staying in with Catherine Airey
Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Catherine and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me. Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?
Hi Linda. I’ve brought along my first novel, Confessions.
I understand that Confessions is out today Catherine so happy publication day! I also hear that it is absolutely fantastic so congratulations. Tell me, what can we expect from an evening in with Confessions?
There are multiple female perspectives in Confessions (and one male one). As the title suggests, these characters each have their secrets, things they are ashamed of, and Irish Catholicism is a thread throughout the novel. These characters’ stories brush up against real-world events and issues – from 9/11 to the legalisation of abortion in Ireland in 2018. So there’s lots of intrigue.
So would you call Confessions historical?
In some ways, it’s a historical novel, but with a focus on what it means to be young and not feel in control of your own story, which I’d argue is pretty universal.
I think you’re absolutely right – though I might add that getting older doesn’t always make one feel any more in control.
What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?
I’ve brought along a Twix bar, which appears a few times in the novel, almost like an easter egg.
Anyone who brings chocolate is always welcome!
I’d also like to listen to the album ‘Mistaken Identity’ by Kim Carnes, which came out from 1981. The song ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ is featured in the book. It was also the song I listened to right after I’d finished the first draft of Confessions. I’ll also share the chorus lyrics to ‘Hit and Run’, which I love as a piece of poetry:
Love will tear and do you in
Turn you inside out and when
All you got is less than dim
You know, you’re grabbing at straws
And you’d do it again
What perfect accompaniments to both Confessions and publication day. Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about the book Catherine. I’m thrilled to have a copy waiting for me on my TBR! You put the album on and I’ll give readers a few more details about Confessions:
Confessions
‘I was at a time in my life where I got to thinking more about people’s choices – how everything would be different if just the slightest decision changed…’
It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone. Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of Cora’s family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…
An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.
Published today, 23rd January 2025, by Penguin imprint Viking, Confessions is available for purchase through the publisher links here.
About Catherine Airey
Catherine Airey grew up in England in a family of mixed English-Irish descent, and now lives in Bristol. Confessions is her first novel. Confessions was acquired in a twenty-four hour, six figure pre-empt in the UK and a hotly contested six-figure auction in the US.
For further information, follow Catherine on Twitter/X @catherineairey and find her on Instagram.
