Kate Thompson - The Kinsella Sisters

Talking to Kate Thompson was like a breath of fresh air – we chatted about her life as an actress and her career now as an accomplished author.  

Before Kate became a hugely successful novelist she was an award-winning former actress and has acted alongside the likes of Gabriel Byrne, Brendan Gleeson and Liam Neeson. She went on in 1989 to win the Best Actress Award in the Dublin Theatre Festival.  It was at this time that Kate discovered the luxury of voiceover work - earning herself the soubriquet of 'Ireland's Joanna Lumley'. Kate went on to spend nine years in Glenroe, the Irish television soap. In 1996 she says “I made a conscious decision to give up acting as I’d reached my best before days – I knew the final date was looming and wanted to leave before I was pushed.  It’s really sad that a woman of a certain age should have to hang up her hat”.

So she decided to try her hand at writing.

Kate’s first novel – It Means Mischief - went straight onto the bestseller list. It was followed by More Mischief, Going Down and The Blue Hour - which became a number one bestseller in Ireland and was shortlisted for the 2003 Parker Romantic Novel of the Year. Since then she has written 12 novels including  Hard to Choos - which was published under the nom-de-plume Pixie Pirelli (Ms Pirelli is actually a character in Sex, Lies & Fairytales) A short novel - Stargazing - was published as part of the Open Door Series to promote adult literacy.

The inspiration for her new novel “The Kinsella Sisters” partly came from her own life experience of when her daughter Clara left home – “My daughter was just on the verge of flying the nest and I found it a lot tougher than I thought it would be, it really hit me badly – I wasn’t motivated, I really didn’t want to write about depression.  It was my editor that suggested I channel it into my next book”.

The Kinsella Sisters – is a wonderful book and definitely worth reading it tells the story of Rio and Dervla Kinsella who are inseparable as children. Growing up with their alcoholic father and their desperate mother, in the picture perfect seaside village of Lissamore on Ireland’s west cost, they’re each other’s best friend.  A warm, witty and captivating novel of love, family, and the importance of having a place to call home…

Free spirit Rio Kinsella finds herself settled in the picture-postcard village of Lissamore on Ireland's West Coast. It's where she took her first step, had her first kiss and conceived her beloved son Finn. But now Finn's spread his wings and flown the nest, what's to keep her here? An old flame and a new prospect may provide the answer…

City girl Dervla is poles apart from her bohemian sister. A businesswoman with a quick mind, a hard heart and a nose for a good deal, she has no time for love. But is there anywhere she can really call home? And will the arrival of a new client throw her glossy magazine life-style into disarray?
Torn apart by a long-standing feud, the Kinsella sisters are reunited upon the death of their wayward father. But on clearing the family home, they discover a secret so intriguing it could change their lives forever…

Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1959 Kate now lives some of the year in Dublin, and some of the year on the West coast of Ireland. She is happily married to Malcolm Douglas - also an actor, and has one daughter - an adventuress called Clara.  She considers herself beyond privileged to have hit upon a way of earning a living doing the thing she loves best.

The book is available from Amazon priced £4.10