'Nobody was more surprised than my mother when I wrote a book'

Ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, Liz Nugent, Caoimhe Kenny, Georgie Durcan, Dr Doireann O'Leary and Sarah Maria Griffin share their memories

Liz Nugent: 'She felt my book was far superior to other books she was reading. I’d say the publishing industry was quaking in its boots.' Picture: Darragh Kane

Author Liz Nugent

“Nobody was more surprised than my mother, Siobhan, when I wrote a book. When I finished my first novel, Unravelling Oliver, and before I got a publisher, my mother stopped reading until I got a book deal. She has always been a voracious reader, averaging one or two books a week. It was a one-woman protest against the publishing industry.