I published The Cloths of Heaven several years ago. Recently I have been revising my latest creation, Trash Fire, another Irish contemporary novel, which I will publish this year.
Trash Fire is Julie Sands’ story. It opens with her taking one last look around the family home. She finds a slipper, and smiles to herself because she burned the other one on her Trash Fire. This triggers the rest of the story, which is structured around the slipper and all the other items Julie has ritually incinerated, symbolically cremating the memories represented by each item. It is a Phoenix process: items are burned, and a new life for Julie emerges from the ashes. |