Beginner’s pluck: Primary schoolteacher June O’Sullivan

'The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife' is tense, terrifyingly real, and very hard to put down

June O’Sullivan did the bulk of the writing during lockdown, with the help of an Irish Writer’s Centre online course with Conor Kostic, titled, ‘Finish Your Novel’.

June O’Sullivan has always loved stories.

“Growing up in the countryside, I was always outside, and making up games in my head,” she says.

She had thought of being a journalist, and after working for the student paper, became a teacher instead. But before that, she travelled the world for a year.

“I taught English and French in Galway until 2021. I’m now teaching in a primary school.”

Meanwhile, June had tried to write a children’s book, but it wasn’t as easy as she had imagined. The idea for her debut came in 2014.

We visited Skellig Michael, and I spotted the gravestones of two small boys. As a mum of small children, that caught my attention.

She loved the research involved — gaining much help from a local historian.

“She was able to tell me the boys’ mother’s name, but there were no notes from the lighthouse, and no death certificates.”

She did the bulk of the writing during lockdown, with the help of an Irish Writer’s Centre online course with Conor Kostic, titled, ‘Finish Your Novel’.

“I sent it out in 2023.”

Who is June O’Sullivan?

Date/place of birth: 1979/ Dublin (but moved to Co Limerick aged two).

Education: Scoil Mhuire & Ide, in Newcastle West, Limerick. University College, Cork, BA in English and French; MA in English; University of Limerick, H Dip; University of Galway, Post Grad in Special Needs; UL, MA in Creative Writing.

Home: Valentia Island.

Family: Husband Declan; Layla, aged 14, Dylan, aged 12, and Joni, aged nine.

The day job: Primary teaching.

In another life: “I’d love to teach in a university.”

Favourite writers: Donal Ryan; Edna O’Brien; Margaret Atwood; Alice Munro; Kevin Barry; Emma Donoghue.

Second book: “It’s about a woman aviator from Limerick. It’s due in March.”

Top tip: Keep going. “The difference between success and failure is persistence. You can only get better.”

Instagram: @sullivanjune

The debut

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife

Poolbeg, €16.99/ Kindle, €3.54

Eliza Carty doesn’t welcome her husband, James’ posting to Skellig Michael, but life with two small boys is just about bearable, until James’ ambitious deputy arrives with his cold hearted wife. And when tragedy strikes, everything starts to unspool. Is she going mad?

The verdict: Tense and terrifyingly real. I couldn’t put it down.

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