Roddy Doyle: The Woman Behind the Door

The Woman Behind The Door is the latest novel from Booker Prize winning author Roddy Doyle and once again sees him return to Paula Spencer, the woman we first met in 1996’s The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. The now iconic story of Paula and Charlo was groundbreaking in its depiction of domestic abuse while its sequel, Paula Spencer, depicted a woman struggling to keep her family together through addiction. In The Woman Behind The Door, Paula is forced to confront the impact her past has had on her children, when her eldest daughter turns up at her house - determined to walk away from her life. Throughout the course of the story, a 66 year old Paula learns the secret that unleashed this crisis for Nicola and so begins a journey that sees mother and daughter untangling memories and revelations to confront the shadow violence has cast upon them both.

Roddy Doyle is a former teacher from Dublin and the author of 12 acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha after previously being nominated in 1991 for The Van. Join Roddy Doyle in conversation at The Dingle Literary Festival as he discusses his career to date, his commitment to writing about controversial topics, his wholly original use of dialogue and why he doesn’t place much weight in the Booker Prize.

Roddy will be interviewed by Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan. Chandrika is Dublin-based writer, performer, and cultural consultant from India. Her work has been published by Dedalus Press, Little Island, Banshee, Stinging Fly, Poetry Ireland, and others. She was the 2023 Writer in Residence for the Institute of Physics, is a 2024 Goethe-Institut Studio Quantum Artist in Residence, and is currently under commission with Skein Press.

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