The Bookseller has reported that Silence Under a Stone, by the 81-year-old Irish writer Norma MacMaster, has been shortlisted for the Society of Authors’ Awards. What is noteworthy is that it is also Norma’s debut novel.
The book, which the Independent (Ireland) describes as a “traditional novel” that “frames the ‘burning fervour’ of a mother’s love with the scourge of fundamentalism and division,” is just MacMaster’s second book. Her only other publication was a memoir published in 2008.
The Society of Authors’ Award is for debut novels by writers over the age of 40. Maybe there’s hope for me yet? Time to dust of that old novel and try again?
