INDIGO EXCLUSIVE WITH CHARLOTTE MCCONAGHY
“Booksellers are the lifeblood of the literary industry, so it is an enormous honour to have Wild Dark Shore chosen by Indigo as the 2025 Book of the Year. I count myself extremely fortunate and humbled to be part of a list of extraordinary releases this year, novels that challenge us boldly and move us deeply, and am very grateful for this opportunity to have my work reach Canadian readers. I have deep affection for Canada after having lived in Ottawa for a year as a child, so this is particularly special. Thank you!”
What’s your most unusual writing habit?
“I don’t think I have any particularly unusual habits. They’re probably very boring, in fact, but a few things I always like to do when I’m writing is to have a scented candle burning, to play music that is just the right mood for the scenes I’m writing, and to be in complete solitude—I can’t work in cafés or libraries, far too distracting!”
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever researched for your writing?
“I don’t know about strangest ever—there’s about a decade of research behind me, and all kinds of crazy things have popped up—but I am currently researching life in Mesolithic Ireland in just about every form, from the food that was eaten, to the tools used, to the possible spiritual practices, all of which has been very mysterious and thoroughly fascinating.”
What book title best describes your life?
“It might be Three Women at the moment, because I feel sort of like I’ve had to become three very different women to suit three different roles in my life: the mother, the friend, and the writer. Each of these is a distinct version of myself, and the challenge seems to be in having them overlap!”
