Louise O’Neill: I looked back through my own diaries from the age of 12 to 18

MANY people ask me how I managed to evoke such a vivid sense of what it’s like to be a teenage girl in both of my novels. It’s easy.

Even though I’m essentially incredibly immature, I still felt it was important that I conduct extensive research into the mindset of this sensitive time.

I looked back through my own diaries from the age of 12 to 18 but since I didn’t want my heroine to come across as a self-obsessed, whiney Fury, I decided it might be best to look elsewhere for inspiration.