Since her first novel A Place of Stones (1991) Deirdre Purcell has been acknowledged as one of the country’s finest writers. Prior to becoming a novelist, Deirdre had a successful career in radio, TV and print, working as a broadcast journalist and newsreader for RTÉ while writing for the Irish Press and the Sunday Tribune. She acted as a member of the Abbey Theatre company for three years, debuting as Christine Lambert in Drama at Inish opposite the great Donal McCann as Eddie Twohig, then going to Loyola University as its first ‘European Theatre Artist.’ So her many ‘lives’ have contributed greatly to her fiction. As, no doubt, does her regular broadcasting ‘gig’ poring over the daily newspapers for the Morning Ireland ‘It says in the papers’ slot. Her most recent novel, The Husband, was published in late 2016. She is also the author of a biography of Father Aengus Finucance, the founder of the development aid organisation Concern Worldwide.
