LARA HARTE
Losing It
This is my second novel, published in 1999. Considerably darker in tone and theme than First Time, it also tells a tale of young adults in a Dublin setting. After her elder sister Corinne’s suicide attempt, Merle sets out to discover the truth behind it, and eventually gets to the heart of a tragedy that has destroyed the lives of several childhood friends.
I was very interested in psychology at the time, and wanted to explore the complexity of the human mind and how it copes with trauma and the challenges of life. This is what I did, though the marketing campaign focused on the ‘young and hip’ dimension of the book. Well, the characters certainly are young, and do speak a streetwise argot, though one of the main points of the novel is that their streetwise attitude is nothing more than a shield against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
The novel drew some considered and thoughtful reviews. Noteworthy comments include the following:
‘Harte . . . has lost none of her skill at describing the sullen fear of outwardly streetwise youth. [She] writes with stunning conviction.’ Penny Perrick, The Times
‘The texture of her writing is shot through with a dark lyricism and terrifying beauty . . . An assured and confident work: Lara Harte has the gift of being able to describe emotional states with economy. The novel is unpretentious, authentic and enthralling.’ Times Literary Supplement
