Beginner’s pluck: Bookshop manager Gráinne O’Brien

Every teenager, and every parent of one, will surely relate to the story in 'Solo'

Gráinne O’Brien: 'I wrote throughout college, but it wasn’t until I took my MA that I learned to finish anything.'

A sensitive, anxious child, Gráinne drew on other people’s emotions.

“Books were the answer to everything,” she says.

She started writing in her late teens, when her mum told her she could be the next Marian Keyes.

“I wrote throughout college, but it wasn’t until I took my MA that I learned to finish anything.”

Meanwhile, Gráinne had lived in California working in the tech industry.

When I got home, I started selling books in O’Mahony’s in Limerick.

She started her MFA in Creative Writing in 2017.

“I went in writing dark dystopian fiction but worked on a collection of stories based on weddings. I’d attended 13 that year alone. I got positive feedback, but no deal.”

During covid, Gráinne was commissioned to write a fairytale for Limerick.

“I tried out various concepts, and then decided to re-do Cinderella and put her in white trainers. That was such fun.”

In 2023, Gráinne was trying to write an adult book.

“But a teenager, Daisy, appeared, saying ‘I need someone to write about me!’ I tried to push her away, but after a week in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, I had a full rough draft.”

Who is Gráinne O’Brien?

Date/ place of birth: 1987/ Limerick. “I grew up in County Clare.”

Education: Villiers School in Limerick; University of Limerick, English and History; MFA in Creative Writing.

Home: Limerick city.

Family: Husband, TJ. Two cats, Chowder and Butterscotch.

The day job: Manager in Kenny’s bookshop, Galway.

In another life: “I’d be a composer/conductor. I’ve always sung in choirs, and I’d love to direct and know what every musician was doing.”

Favourite writers: Tamora Pierce; Carlos Ruiz Zafón; Gabrielle Zevin; Donal Ryan; Sarah Moore Fitzgerald; Taylor Jenkins Reid; Emily Henry.

Second book: “I have a very rough idea.”

Top tip: “Learn to finish something.”

Instagram: @grawritesandrontu

The debut

Solo; Little Island, €10.99

Daisy has always loved music. But when her other love, David, ends things, her dad becomes sick, and her best friend deserts her, Daisy loses music too.

How will she survive her Leaving Certificate year? Enter Flora, who understands, and helps her see the light.

The verdict: I loved this book so much. Every teenager, and every parent of one, will surely relate to this.

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