Output details

So It Is

Research was undertaken for this novel in three main areas: previous narratives dealing with the Troubles period in Northern Ireland; the role of women in the conflict; and the relationship between form and content in the structures of the novel itself. The first strand analysed texts from writers including Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel and Bernard MacLaverty. The second investigated practices such as the 'honeytrap' and historical figures such as Mairead Farrell. The third was based on the narrative choice to alternate between first person, present tense and third person, past tense to reflect the immediacy of the violence at different points in the novel, as well as the inclusion of prose poems to indicate points of trauma (for both character and narrative) and handwritten 'lists' as a means to develop the tension of the plot in Book II. There was also extensive research conducted into vernacular and cadence of speech for the Belfast-based characters. The development of the story, from late-Eighties through to the Good Friday Agreement and beyond, allows for the presentation of historical details that highlight the emergent Peace Process in the province, as well as the grievances and fractures that remained.