When Alice Ryan began writing her first novel There's Been A Little Incident, a debut about familial love and lifelong friendship, it was an "act of hope" in the face of terrible loss.

11 years ago, her mother, former literary editor of The Irish Times Caroline Walsh, died by suicide while suffering from a debilitating illness.

Ryan, a grand-daughter of the late writer Mary Lavin, was initially rejected by publishers but persevered until her book "a novel about grief, that is hopeful" won her a book deal. 

It was written, she told Roisin Ingle, almost entirely on her phone in the early hours of the morning or while "the fish fingers were burning."

The mother of one also spoke about suffering from post-natal anxiety, finding solace in her late mother's book collection and the support of family and friends at the worst times in her life.

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