An interview with Orlagh Collins, the author of All the Invisible Things
About the book:
1. How did you get the idea of writing All the Invisible Things?
I’m interested in the different types of friendships we can have and the element of
vulnerability that underpins the best of them. Really, I started with the idea of
connection. We’ve never been more ‘connected’ and yet, it seems, we’ve rarely felt
so alone. Vetty’s bisexuality is important because for her, intimacy is led by such
connection, as opposed to gender, and it’s precisely this connection that’s been
missing in the sex that surrounds her childhood friend Pez.
I wanted to explore how it feels to grow up in a highly sexualised world where
technology has become so pervasive and I hoped to explore this from several
angles. For Vetty the internet opens up doors in a positive way, but Pez struggles to
find a balance. I think it’s important to acknowledge the impact of online porn, mostly
because it’s conflation with pop culture is so inarguable. I’d personally welcome
more healthy discussion as to what’s real and what’s not.
2. Are you more like Pez or Vetty?
Both Pez and Vetty struggle with being vulnerable and I can relate to this in a big
way but overall it has to be Vetty. Losing a parent is such a defining event and I
wanted to portray how this feels after the acute period of loss has passed and you’re
supposed to have returned to normal life, even though nothing feels remotely normal
anymore. Like Vetty, it took me time to find my place in the world. I also spent a lot of
time trying to be a better sister and a better friend, and generally felt like I wasn’t
getting much of it right.
3. Which scene was your favorite to write? (no spoilers)
My favourite scene is the one where Vetty is walking through London on her own as
the sun comes up. Where she’s literally walking from darkness into light. This feels to
me like the moment she truly becomes herself and I actually wept as I wrote it. Her
father is worried about her being alone in the city at this hour of the morning but he
also knows she needs to do it. As a parent, I felt his conflicting urge to protect her
while also knowing he needs to let her go. He tells her to drop the phone into her
pocket and he stays on the line as she walks through the city, contemplating the life-
changing night she just had.
4. What is the key message in the book?
It’s the story of a girl searching for a genuine connection amidst the noise. It explores
themes of bisexuality, identity, grief and the unrealistic portrayals of sex online but
it’s also about the ordinary challenges of growing up and making friends. It’s about
the courage it takes to be who yourself when your experience falls outside a readily
available narrative. Ultimately, it celebrates how perfectly imperfect we all are.
Acknowledging that allowing ourselves to feel vulnerable also means allowing
ourselves to feel truly alive. Suffice it to say, All The Invisible Things is no romance.
5. Where can readers purchase your book?
I’m based in the UK so I’m afraid I’m not up to speed on all the US bookstores and
online channels but I know it’s for sale at Barnes & Noble and hopefully lots of other
great independent books stores too.
About you:
1. What do you like to do in your free time other than to write?
Like most writers, I love to read but I never feel like I have enough time to do either. I
love to run too. I have a great group of girls and we go out together with the dogs in
any weather. It’s like therapy in the rain. Films and great TV are huge passions too.
2. If you can invite one person to dinner, either fictional or real, who would
it be?
How on earth do I pick just one? OK, I’m now picturing a huge dinner table with
Adele, Elvis, Tom Hanks, Zadie Smith, Irish comedian Tommy Tiernan, Idris Elba,
Amy Winehouse, Oscar Wilde and at least one Obama (ideally Michelle)
3. What is your favorite thing about being a writer?
Getting to live in my head and indulge my secret introvert.
4. What are some of your favorite books?
Again, so many. It’s impossible to choose. I first read Wuthering Heights at 15,
captivated by the intense passions of Heathcliff and Cathy. The wild, mysterious
Heathcliff hooked onto my teenage mind and my feelings for him were unsettling and
fierce. I’m still fascinated by their obsessive and complicated relationship. A brilliantly
atmospheric read. To Kill A Mockingbird is beautifully written and eternally relevant.
The Velveteen Rabbit: The tender tale of the truthful Skin Horse telling young-buck
Rabbit about the pain and beauty that comes with ‘becoming real’ is poignant and
timeless. Catcher in the Rye: Holden is forever my favourite cynical teen. Are you
there, God, it’s me Margaret? I read this when I was around ten and the just the right
side of slightly-confused for it to feel unforgettably relevant. Margaret talked
endlessly of her ‘loafers’ and I remember being desperate to know what they might
look like. No Google in them days. The Woman who Walked into Doors by Roddy
Doyle, damn near broke my heart. Caitlin Moran’s, How to be a Woman and How to
Build a Girl both managed to be both side-splittingly funny and deeply profound. I
revere Moran for her warm, funny intelligence, for championing unconventional girls
and for starting conversations that few other writers dare. Enid Blyton’s The Magic
Faraway Tree went deep. It was one of the first books I read alone and it introduced
the possibility of disappearing to lovely places inside my head. I still cry at Charlotte’s
Web. Educated by Tara Westover blew me away. It was one of the only books that I
re-read as soon as I’d finished.
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