Violence against women is explored in Derry author Claire Allan's new novel
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Loading... - Anna Dorko
- 04 Apr 2022
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NURSE Nell Sweeney walks to and from the hospital where she works everyday believing that no harm can befall her. Until one day she is taken.
Derry author Claire Allan describes her latest book, The Nurse, as "a gripping and fast paced thriller" focusing on a missing 22-year-old nurse, and "the mysterious stalker who feels aggrieved at the world".
A former journalist, Allan began her writing career in the genres of historical and popular fiction, before migrating to crime fiction with her 2018 psychological thriller, Her Name Was Rose.
The Nurse is her sixth thriller and she admits it was the most draining to write, taking its toll on her physically and mentally.
The intensity of the writing experience for Allan, who suffers from fibromyalgia, a complex rheumatic disorder that causes chronic pain, was compounded by both the subject matter and the fact she wrote it during lockdown.
"Normally if I'm writing something heavy, I could switch off the laptop and go over to my mum's or a friend's house for a cup of coffee. That wasn't an option during lockdown, where the world felt a scary place. I did spook myself and even became nervous going out to walk the dog," she admits.
The propulsive thriller digs into the subject of misogyny, gendered violence and in particular the incel (involuntarily celibate) movement.
Incel is defined as a member of an online subculture of men who want to have sex, but are unable to find sexual partners, typically blaming women.
Allan first heard about the movement in 2014 when American Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured a further 14 before killing himself in California.
Rodger, who had self-identified as an incel, posted videos on YouTube detailing his beliefs and left a 137 page manifesto.
"To many in the incel community he is seen as a martyr. His name, and his actions, have been referenced in subsequent discussions and attacks and the movement has grown," says 45-year-old Allan.
This growth has been despite a crackdown on incel discussion forums and message boards in 2017.
In researching her book Allan was still able to access archived incel threads on Reddit and admits much of what she read was "truly horrific".
"When I was first researching online I didn't know if these people were serious. To me it was like reading teenage boys taking the hand out of each other," she says.
"But the more you read, you see the level of their internal hate for themselves and absolutely resentment of all women.
"They have the opinion that feminism has destroyed the world and it's left these men totally unable to fulfil their biological need and entitlement to sex."
An avid Twitter user, Allan has herself received abuse in the past, but wasn't worried that she would become a target of incels after writing The Nurse.
"I would be subject to abuse at times on Twitter anyway because I'm quite outspoken with my views about feminism and misogyny.
"I'm completely fascinated about how social media and the internet is changing how society is built. My undergraduate degree was in ethics and philosophy, so the layers of debate this book evokes really appealed to me.
"This book was written because I have seen how pervasive this ideology has become and how quickly it can spread. I also wanted to examine how someone could become indoctrinated into this cult-like community without even realising it," adds Allan, who stresses that The Nurse is far from an argument for women's rights.
It is written from the point of view of an incel and Marian, Nell's mother, who is frantic with worry about her missing daughter.
In the book it mentions that women should have a right to walk home alone without fear of attack, but that is countered by saying men should have a right to walk the streets alone without being labelled as predators.
In the past year there has been widespread discussion about female safety following the murders of London marketing executive Sarah Everard and Co Offlay school teacher Ashling Murphy.
Allan stresses that The Nurse was not written in response to these events and in fact it was the very day she handed in her first draft to her publisher that Sarah Everard's body was discovered in Kent woodlands. Read More...
