Read the book and watch the film: 'Felicia's Journey' by William Trevor
An interview with the author
Felicia's story is sad, but one that is all too common. Many young, pregnant Irish girls travel to England either to terminate a pregnancy or simply to escape the shame that is visited upon them by their families and communities. There was a very famous and controversial case in 1992 of a fourteen-year-old Irish girl who travelled to England to have an abortion. Did this particular story influence the writing of Felicia's Journey?
No. As you say, many young Irish girls make journeys quite similar to Felicia's—although she, of course, was far from seeking an abortion.
You often refer to Eamon De Valera in Felicia's Journey and in your other works. What influence did he have on you and do you agree with his vision of Ireland? What role did politics play in your upbringing?
I do agree with De Valera's vision of Ireland, although often my characters either don't understand or wholly misunderstand it. Politics played no part in my upbringing.
Your characters are marked by a certain fatalism. Do you think this is a particularly Irish trait?
I don't think so. I don't think of my characters as being marked in that particular way; some are, some are not, but it never seems to me to be the most vigorous characteristic.
In Felicia's Journey, you depict the world of the homeless with haunting realism and empathy. How did you gain such an understanding of this world?
Observation and, again, imagination.
Felicia's story is sad, but one that is all too common. Many young, pregnant Irish girls travel to England either to terminate a pregnancy or simply to escape the shame that is visited upon them by their families and communities. There was a very famous and controversial case in 1992 of a fourteen-year-old Irish girl who travelled to England to have an abortion. Did this particular story influence the writing of Felicia's Journey?
No. As you say, many young Irish girls make journeys quite similar to Felicia's—although she, of course, was far from seeking an abortion.
You often refer to Eamon De Valera in Felicia's Journey and in your other works. What influence did he have on you and do you agree with his vision of Ireland? What role did politics play in your upbringing?
I do agree with De Valera's vision of Ireland, although often my characters either don't understand or wholly misunderstand it. Politics played no part in my upbringing.
Your characters are marked by a certain fatalism. Do you think this is a particularly Irish trait?
I don't think so. I don't think of my characters as being marked in that particular way; some are, some are not, but it never seems to me to be the most vigorous characteristic.
In Felicia's Journey, you depict the world of the homeless with haunting realism and empathy. How did you gain such an understanding of this world?
Observation and, again, imagination.
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