Beginner’s pluck: Counsellor and psychotherapist Sinéad Nolan

Nolan's debut novel 'The Counting Game' is clever and compulsive and the plot is lifted by the psychological insights

Sinéad Nolan: 'In 2019, I did a Faber novel writing course for six months, meeting once a week. It was wonderful getting feedback from others.'

An adventurous child, Sinéad adored playing in a forest with her friends, climbing trees.

“We had so much freedom,” she says.

Following her MA in journalism, she lived in Dublin and wrote features for the Irish Independent and Sunday World.

“Then I went travelling for a year, spending time in New Zealand. Then, living in London, I decided to chill for a while.”

I worked in a clothes shop in Covent Garden, and I wrote short stories.

Sinéad’s stories have been shortlisted for the Momaya Press Awards, and the RTÉ Francis McManus Award: “That was 2005, when Claire Keegan won.”

Aged 30, she trained as a counsellor and psychotherapist and has worked in the area ever since.

“In 2019, I did a Faber novel writing course for six months, meeting once a week. It was wonderful getting feedback from others. We’ve stayed in touch,” she says.

Sinéad gained her agent through the Faber anthology: “Nine got in touch. I chose Stephanie Glencross of David Higham Associates. She helped me edit.”

Who is Sinéad Nolan?

Date/place of birth: 1985/ Dublin.

Education: Holy Child, Killiney. University of Derby, creative writing; Nottingham Trent University, MA in newspaper journalism. CPPD, counselling school, counselling and psychotherapy.

Home: Kent.

Family: Husband, Jason; daughter, Saoirse, four months; cats, Kitty and Gingey.

The day job: Counsellor and psychotherapist in private practice.

In another life: “I’ve always liked the idea of being a doctor or a nurse. I took a while deciding between medicine and psychotherapy.”

Favourite writers: Sylvia Plath; Kazuo Ishiguro; Lionel Shriver; Claire Keegan.

Second book: “It’s called Shadow Play and is half written. It’s about a psychotherapist in London.”

Top tip: “I like Ernest Hemingway’s advice: ‘Good writing is rewriting.’ Also, find your writing tribe and get feedback.”

Instagram: @Sineadnolanwriter.

The debut

The Counting Game

Harper North, €16.99

Traumatised from his mother’s death, Jack rarely speaks.

And when his sister, Saoirse, disappears in the forest, he’s unable to remember exactly what happened.

Garda Morris enlists Freya, a psychologist with demons of her own. Will she gain Jack’s trust, and get to the truth?

“I heard Jack’s voice and wrote the first scene with Garda Morris. I’m not a plotter.”

The verdict: Clever and compulsive. The plot is lifted by the psychological insights.