‘I remember feeling desperately sorry for my mum’ – Glenroe star Isobel Mahon on how losing her dad inspired her debut novel

She spent 16 years in ‘Glenroe’, but the actress has many other strings to her bow. She talks about how her novel was inspired by the trauma of losing her dad as a child

Isobel Mahon's debut is a gorgeous read. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Liadan Hynes

Some way into Isobel Mahon’s first novel, Learning to Fly, we discover the root cause of her main character’s emotional issues. Lucia is a woman whose life has been upended after she discovers her husband has been having an affair. Years before, her father had died, leaving parts of Lucia frozen in time.