New book

In Ireland Janey Mac is an expression of surprise or even shock as in “Janey Mac! My husband’s ending our marriage.”

And that’s what happens to the character Janey Mac in the new book Janey Mac by Mary Halpin who lives in Aldwick.

The book is published on Amazon and is available on Amazon.co.uk priced £7.99.

“I feel that older women, even women aged over about 45, are badly served in novels. And yet, in the US where the data exists, women aged over 45 make up 80 per cent of the reading public!

“There are notable exceptions of course, but in general, older women are portrayed either as somewhat comical characters or as wicked mothers or step-mothers.

“These are outmoded archetypes which may reflect the fact that commissioning editors tend to be quite young; they may not be fully in tune with how older women live these days. At any rate, there seems to be a dearth of novels whose protagonists are normal, rational women of a certain age.

“When it comes to romantic novels, you only have to take a look at that category in any bookstore and it’s almost entirely geared to women under thirty. Janey Mac isn’t a romance, but it does have a definite romantic element.

“The novel has been on my mind for a long time and last year I finally sat down and set about writing it. I’ve been inspired by many women, both young and old, who have been dumped by spouses or partners and left to somehow cope, often without financial help.

“When you’re faced with that situation as an older woman, it can be even more daunting. For one thing, starting all over again doesn’t seem like an option when you’ve been with someone all that time, and then adult children tend to take sides.

“Janey’s adult children seem to side with Kevin, her ex, and that’s very hard for Janey who has essentially been left penniless.

“The other great inspiration was the friendship element in the novel. It’s often our friends who get us who through the hard times. In Janey’s case, her bestie is a gay man, Felix. When her marriage breaks up, he’s visiting LA and to her horror, she learns that he’s planning to stay there to pursue an acting career.

“Their stories emerge in their emails to each other. Phone calls don’t work because Janey has quite serious tinnitus and finds it very hard to hear on the phone. Felix has a kind heart, but in his personal life he’s a loose cannon and it’s only later that we find out why. There’s a fair bit of comedy in the novel too because I think that life is often funny, even as it’s screwing us over!

“I’m aiming the book mainly at the kind of reader who enjoys personal dramas rather than, say, crime or spy novels. She or he might be a member of a book club or just someone who enjoys reading about dysfunctional families because both Janey’s and Felix’s families are very dysfunctional!

“Although Janey is an older woman, I hope that younger women will find plenty to attract them, too. Janey’s daughter Allegra and her son Lucas have their own sub-plots, and I think that female readers, in particular, will identify with the often fraught mother-daughter relationship. For example, Janey doesn’t approve of how Allegra is raising her two children and makes the big mistake of letting Allegra suss it which inevitably leads to tensions between them.

“Overall, I enjoy writing when the characters begin to speak and act for themselves. I started out with a basic idea and a few main characters, but as the writing progressed, they began to tell their own story and perform their own actions, almost independently of me. That’s when writing is in flow.”