Monica McInerney

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Monica McInerney
Born1965 (age 60–61)
Clare, South Australia, Australia
OccupationNovelist
Notable awards2008 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) , General Fiction Book of the Year, winner

Monica McInerney is an Australian-born, Dublin-based novelist.[1] Her books have been published worldwide and in more than a dozen languages.

Early life and education

Monica McInerney grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia, where her father was the railway stationmaster and her mother worked in the local library.[2]

Career

McInerney has previously worked as an event manager and organiser of tourism festivals, a freelance writer/editor, a record company press officer, a barmaid, grape picker and hotel cleaner; and in arts marketing, public relations, and television production roles. She worked as a book publicist for ten years.[1]

Writing

In her first novel, A Taste for It (2001), McInerney tracks the travels of an Australian chef, Maura Carmody, as she bungles her way around Ireland. The book established themes of romance, dislocation, and adventure that McInerney would expand upon for years to come.[3]

Between 2002 and 2005 McInerney produced four novels – Upside Down Inside Out (2002), Spin the Bottle (2003), Alphabet Sisters (2004), and Family Baggage (2005) – which also traversed themes of romance, travel and family dynamics, to increasingly positive reviews. In a 2004 review of Alphabet Sisters, The Age newspaper's Christopher Bantick wrote that McInerney's departure from romantic comedy allowed for a sharpened "exploration of contemporary women and their relationships."[4] Of Family Baggage, Marie Claire magazine wrote: "With every book, Monica McInerney becomes more skilled at juggling plot complexities and giving depth to her characters…"[5]

In 2006, McInerney was the main ambassador for the Australian Government's 'Books Alive' national reading campaign, for which she wrote a limited edition novella called Odd One Out. McInerney's sixth novel, Those Faraday Girls (2007), won General Fiction Book of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.[6] In a review of the book, Sydney's Sun Herald newspaper described McInerney as: "Australia’s answer to Maeve Binchy, a modern-day Jane Austen."[7]

McInerney's 2008 collection of short stories, All Together Now, was shortlisted for General Fiction Book of the Year in the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards. Hobart's Mercury newspaper described the collection as: "stories that will edify and bring a tear to the eye as well. Yes, this can be from laughter at McInerney’s sense of fun and playfulness, but also in the tender observations she makes of the frailty of love and life."[8]

For her next novel, 2010's At Home with the Templetons, McInerney expanded on the exploration of family dynamics, broadening the scope of the interactions to those amongst two families. In an interview with Fancy Goods she explained: "What I wanted to do with this novel was bring two very different families – the seven unruly Templetons and the smaller unit of Nina Donovan and her son Tom – into each other’s orbit, with good and bad consequences. I also wanted to touch on issues such as jealousy in its many and damaging forms, the lasting impact of grief, the different aspects of motherhood and marriage, sibling rivalry and sibling loyalty, contrasting parenting styles, family secrets and lies, all against a background as rich in comedy and drama as possible."[9] Her 2011 release, Lola's Secret – "A funny, sad and moving novel about memories and moments and the very meaning of life"[10] – was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards, General Fiction Book of the Year in 2012 and later became available as a Pink Popular Penguin,[11] raising funds to place breast-care nurses in rural Australia.

In 2012's The House of Memories, McInerney explores the reverberations of grief after the death of a child, calling on the despair she'd experienced at the loss of her own father. In an interview in 2012, McInerney explained: "Grief is the rawest of human emotions and it is different for everybody who goes through it. Once I opened myself to thinking about that, it seemed to be everywhere. I've been really bowled over by the emails I've been getting from readers; so many people have been through something like this."[12] McInerney published two short stories as an eBook titled The Christmas Gift in 2013 and released her 11th major work, Hello from the Gillespies, in October 2014, which is described as "A funny and heartfelt novel about miscommunication and mayhem in a family like no other."[13] Hello from the Gillespies was included on Oprah Winfrey's "Three Books to Take on a Flight" list,[14] as well as Booktopia's 2014 Books of the Year[15] and Australia's Favourite Author polls, and the Huffington Post's 2015 Top 10 Novels to Read this Winter list.[16]

In her 2017 novel, The Trip of a Lifetime, McInerney reacquaints readers with the Quinlan family, previously featured in The Alphabet Sisters and Lola's Secret.[17]

Published works

  • A Taste for It (2000)
  • Upside Down Inside Out (2002)
  • Spin the Bottle (2003)
  • Alphabet Sisters (2004)
  • Family Baggage (2005)
  • Odd One Out (2006)
  • Those Faraday Girls (2007)
  • All Together Now (2008)
  • At Home with the Templetons (2010)
  • Lola's Secret 2011
  • The House of Memories (2012)
  • The Christmas Gift (eBook novella) (2013)
  • Hello from the Gillespies (2014)
  • The Trip of a Lifetime (2017)
  • The Godmothers (2020)
  • Marcie Gill and the Caravan Park Cat (2021)

Recognition

In November 2022, a sculpture of McInerney was unveiled opposite her childhood home in Clare. The work, by South Australian sculptor Paul Leditschke, depicts McInerney as a 10-year-old girl reading a book on the rooftop of her family home. It was erected by the Riesling Trail Committee, which manages a 35 km walking and cycling track that runs through the Clare Valley.[18]

Awards and nominations

  • 2008 – Winner, Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) , General Fiction Book of the Year for Those Faraday Girls[19]
  • 2009 – Shortlisted, ABIA, General Fiction Book of the Year for All Together Now[20]
  • 2010 – Shortlisted, Irish Book Awards, Popular Fiction for At Home with the Templetons[21]
  • 2011 – Shortlisted, Romantic Book of the Year Award, for At Home with the Templetons[22]
  • 2011 – Shortlisted, ABIA, General Fiction Book of the YEAR, for At Home with the Templetons[23]
  • 2012 – Shortlisted, ABIA, General Fiction Book of the Year for Lola's Secret[24]
  • 2018 – Shortlisted, ABIA, General Fiction Book of the Year, for The Trip of a Lifetime[25]
  • 2021 – Shortlisted, ABIA, General Fiction Book of the Year, for The Godmothers[26]

Personal life

For more than 30 years, McInerney and her Irish husband have been moving back and forth between Australia and Ireland. Since 2014 they have based themselves in Dublin.[27]

References

  1. "Austlit – Monica McInerney". Austlit. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  2. ""Meet the Author: Monica McInerney A life of poetry in motion"". The Advertiser, 9 July 2005. ProQuest 355606080. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  3. ""Monica McInerney's writing life"". Penguin Books. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  4. "Alphabet Sisters". The Age. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  5. "Family Baggage review". monicamcinerney.com. Monica McInerney. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  6. ABIA. "ABIA History". abiawards.com.au. ABIA. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  7. McInerney, Monica. "Reviews". monicamcinerney.com. Monica McInerney. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  8. Mercury. "All Together Now review". monicamcinerney.com. Monica McInerney. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  9. "Monica McInerney on 'At Home with the Templetons'". Fancy Goods. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  10. "Lola's Secret". penguin.com.au. Penguin Books. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  11. "Pink Popular Penguins". penguin.com.au. Penguin Books. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  12. "Grief, for lack of a better word, is good". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  13. "Hello from the Gillespies blurb". penguin.com.au. Penguin Books. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  14. Winfrey, Oprah. "Three Books to Take on a Flight". oprah.com. www.oprah.com/. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  15. "Booktopia's 2014 Books of the Year". blog.booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  16. "Top 10 Novels to Read This Winter". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  17. ""New Release"". ChickLit Club. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  18. "Bestselling Australian author's childhood immortalised in stunning statue". ABC News. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  19. "Monica McInerney Awards". penguin.com.au. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  20. "ABIA nominations 2009". readings.com.au. Readings. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  21. PanMacMillan. "Monica McInerney". panmacmillan.com. PanMacmillan. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  22. "Shortlisted". romanceaustralia.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  23. "ABIA Nominations 2011". AustLit. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  24. "ABIA 2012 Shortlist Revealed". afr.com. Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  25. ""The ABIA Book shortlists 2018"". Readings. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  26. "ABIA 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  27. McInerney, Monica. "Bio". monicamcinerney.com. Monica McInerney. Retrieved 8 October 2014.