Writing a gripping thriller is child’s play for debut author Clara Dillon

The Irish author has channelled the power dynamics among parents and the fears mothers have about letting kids go into a riveting tale

Before taking up a career in medicine, author Clara Dillon contemplated journalism. Photo: Mark Condren

Liadán Hynes

The idea for Clara Dillon’s debut novel came to her when she was hosting a playdate for one of her own daughters, and one of their group, a nine-year-old child, ran on to the road. “It wasn’t a particularly ­dramatic incident; we were coming up to a road and I just expected them all to stop ­because the light was red,” Dillon tells me.

“But one of them just ran on ahead. The car that was coming stopped immediately. There was no issue, and the child wasn’t fully out on the road. I wasn’t particularly traumatised, but I started to think: ‘God, ­imagine having to explain that to a mum. How would that conversation go?’”