Exclusive Interview with Christina Sweeney-Bird, author of THE END OF MEN

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Christina Sweeney-Bird, author of the brilliant new novel THE END OF MEN published by Borough Press

What was the genesis of The End of Men and when did you start writing the first draft? 

I read WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks when I was 21 or 22 and found it hugely engaging. I completely believed that the zombie war it described was real and found the breadth of stories around the world in that book very compelling. Then I read THE POWER by Naomi Alderman in early 2018 and found myself thinking, what would the world look like if women weren’t more physically powerful than men but completely outnumbered them? I felt that telling that story through many viewpoints would be the most engaging way to do it. I started writing it on 1 September 2018

When the pandemic took hold in early 2020, what were your instant reactions? 

I remember first hearing about it and not quite knowing how to feel. It felt so bizarre that the kind of news that normally belongs in fiction was now on BBC News and being emailed around by friends and colleagues going, ‘Have you seen this?’ Then, as I read more about it,  I felt total horror. Having done a lot of research into pandemics in the course of researching THE END OF MEN, as soon as I saw that the virus was spreading I thought, ‘Oh God it’s going to go global’. 

What research did you incorporate into your novel to gain knowledge of the different countries your novel visits? 

I grew up in Glasgow and live in London so those two settings came very naturally to me. Other than that, I find films, TV and plenty of online research tend to help with getting a sense of a place.

When did you decide to go away from the Amanda Maclean narrative as a lone central protagonist story and instead a tale of all women in this story?  

Right from the beginning I knew I would have lots of narrators, it was just a question of how many. The first draft had over 40 points of view which I then reduced down in the course of a heavy rewrite with my agent. Amanda and Lisa are the two most consistent POVs - they didn’t change much in the rewrite, I just expanded their stories. 

You start the story in Scotland, Glasgow specifically with such affection is this where you are from originally? 

Yes, I grew up in Glasgow and my parents are both from Glasgow. It’s such a wonderful city and has such a no-nonsense, determined sensibility. It made perfect sense that Amanda would be in Glasgow as the pandemic began.

What is your background as this is your debut novel? 

I studied Law at Cambridge University and work as a corporate litigation lawyer in the City. I always wanted to write and would start writing a novel every summer from the age of 15 (and inevitably fail to get past 10,000 words). As time went on, I read more and got better until when I was 25 I managed to finish my first novel which had taken two years. That novel was in a different genre and didn’t land me an agent but I had some encouraging responses from the agents I sent it to. I started writing THE END OF MEN as soon as I finished that novel, knowing it was an idea I wanted to explore, and here we are!

What is your personal Covid-19 history, how have you adapted much like your female characters?

 

I caught COVID in March 2020 which was challenging but also I’m very lucky to have only been ill for two weeks and now fully recovered. I think I have adapted pretty well to the changed world but I’m very aware that circumstances differ enormously and your circumstances have a huge influence on how affected you are. I read somewhere that we’re all in the same storm but we’re not in the same boat. That really resonated. I’m able to work from home (both as a lawyer and an author) and spent a lot of Spring with my family in Glasgow but not everyone is able to do that.

How do you feel the world will adjust/adapt (a central theme of the novel) post-pandemic? 

I have a fundamental belief in human resilience and optimism. I truly believe that people can adapt to almost anything. I think - no matter how the pandemic itself plays out - we will manage to adjust and hopefully keep our healthcare systems, the arts, workplaces and other industries going.

What are your hopes for the novel come April? And can you mention your relationship with Borough Press? 

I hope the book reaches as wide an audience as possible and I would love to be able to in person book events if it’s safe to do. Borough have been really brilliant. My editor, Carla, has been such a champion right from the first days after my agent sent the book out on submission and the publicity, marketing and other teams are so clever and innovative. I feel very lucky to be working with them.

What have you been reading lately as your twitter feed attests to, what can you recommend? 

I’ve been in an Ann Patchett phase; I read THE DUTCH HOUSE and COMMONWEALTH both of which I absolutely adored. I read a lot of romance and YA fantasy (my comfort genres) so I’ve read five Julia Quinn novels over the last few months. Her most popular series, the BRIDGERTONS, is now a Netflix show being aired in December and if you like the sound of witty, feminist, engaging historical romance you’ll love her. I’ve also become a huge Sarah J Maas fan over lockdown. Oh, and THE LAST ACT OF LOVE by Cathy Retzenbrink was gorgeously written and made me cry.

Any advice for freelancers or young writers out there? 

Keep going! So many authors take multiple books to get an agent and/or publishing deal so don’t be disheartened if it doesn’t happen straight away. Finish the manuscript; you can’t do anything with an unfinished book. And read, read, read. Both broadly across different genres and deeply in the genre you’re writing in. I think it’s Caitlin Moran who says that no one else will ever have read the exact mix of books you’ve read so make sure you’re reading lots of different things to make your voice as unique and interesting as possible. I find romance helps with writing compelling characters, thrillers make my writing more gripping, women’s fiction teaches how to pace well and literary fiction/memoir teaches you beautiful, illustrative turns of phrase. Different types of books help in different ways.

THE END OF MEN is published by Borough Press/Harper Collins on Thursday 29th April