Gripping new book from Achill author

IF you're in the habit of enjoying a late night stroll in Achill, you'll find yourself looking over your shoulder and into the shadows after reading Katrina Gallagher's new book, Fifteen Ascending.

There's a struggle underway between light and dark forces and the survival of humanity is in the hands of a 15-year-old local girl. And an obvious heroine she is not, with her school bullies and parents who just about tolerate her. And then there is her beloved grandmother, keeper of a powerful secret.

Young, dark, adult fantasy fiction, this is not normally the kind of book I go for. The fact it came with two white feathers tucked into it could well have freaked me out. Did I enjoy it? Yes, and I suspected I would before ever I turned a page.

I have never met author Katrina, a native of Achill, who brings the savage landscape of home so alive as the setting for the story that unfolds. But I got her humour when she submitted her book for review with an offer of availability 'for 'interview, a little light house work, and poor relationship advice'.

Fifteen Ascending is dark, but there's always that element of light that has you hoping things will work out as Gallagher touches on many themes - bullying, isolation, death, heroism, loneliness and loss – as she who would be Guardian faces up to demons, internally and externally.

This is gripping fantasy but there's enough reality in there that this story could be real.

Katrina Gallagher, a chef by profession, is a mum of four - Declan (14), Brigid (13) and twins Patrick and Katie (11), and was born and raised in Achill in a farming family. She started putting pen to paper on the stainless steel counter tops of work in the summer of 2016.

After announcing at work that “I’m going to write a book lads”, people offered up solutions for killer stories. “Complex characters, a borderline achievable body disposal method - I think if I ever accidentally/on purpose kill someone it’s reassuring to know I have a manual,” she says of the process.

“With a suitably modest protagonist and a sleek, somewhat weak inspector, it would have worked; we were effortless and brutal as a team.

“The thing was, it had all been done before. I wanted to write something that earned its place at the table. I wanted to write a book that at its core had a message. 'You can totally get away with it, go get your shovel girl' was appealing but it wasn’t going to say what really needed to be said - 'Everything will be ok'. That was the message I wanted to send. 'Believe you are enough'.

“I wanted to write something that held the balance between reality and fantasy, something people could relate to. A book that lifted people up. There are enough things dragging everyone down,” she said.

Gallagher has waited her whole life to write this book, but the time was never right. 'Hello redundancy' in 2017, followed by ankle surgery, gave her that chance.

“Yes, I missed my team whispering in my ear, though I did manage quite a bit of bloodshed on my own,” she says.

It was, we would say, a chance very well taken.

 

* Katrina Gallagher's Fifteen Ascending will be officially launched in The Valley House, Achill, at 8 p.m. this Friday, September 21. Everyone is welcome. The book is available in SuperValu, and other local outlets on Achill Island. It’s also available in Castle Books, Eason Castlebar and Ballina, as well as outlets in Westport and Galway, and online at Amazon.