Dawn O'Porter on her proud Irish kids, Caroline Flack's death, and choosing kindness

Suzanne Harrington speaks to Dawn O’Porter about losing her dear friend Caroline Flack, leaving LA, and her latest novel

Dawn O'Porter. Picture: Toby Madden.

Dawn O’Porter is famous for all sorts of things — like adding an O’ to her surname to mark her marriage to Roscommon’s Chris O’Dowd. Having a haircut that channels Mary Quant, Anna Wintour, and Claudia Winkleman. A deep love of vintage clothing. Being the author of funny, successful books with titles like Cat Lady and The Cows. Being generally fabulous.

There is, however, a lot more to O’Porter than fame, bestsellers, hairdos and fashion. Shaped by early loss — her mum died when she was six — she has always been driven to connect and bond, and to care about others. We’ll come back to that.