But I think everyone glommed onto the fact that he was male, whereas for me, when I was writing it, the thing that I thought was the most important element - picked out several times in the book, too, that shapes his experience and his luck and how easy his life is - is social class. He's got all the things that make life easier. Toby is the guy who's had it golden, the world is set up to suit him, he has every quality that makes life a little bit easier on him: He's white, he's male, he's straight, he's from a well-off family, he's good-looking. As #MeToo was peaking, as you say, and Brett Kavanaugh was just being appointed, people responded very much to the idea of male privilege. The reception of it was very much shaped by the moment when it came out.
Witch Elm made me a bit happier with the idea of looking at things differently. I like getting a glimpse of the world through a very different pair of eyes. And I love doing that! I'm coming to this from acting. Looking at the whole procedure from the reverse angle. With Witch Elm, not only did I have none of those structures in place, but I as looking at the murder investigation from the reverse angle instead of from the detective's point-of-view, it's the point-of-view of somebody who is ultimately a victim, suspect, witness, perpetrator.
Writing the Dublin Murder Squad books, I've got the shape of the squad in place, I know who the state pathologist is - there are certain structures in place. You don't have any of the preset structures in place. But The Witch Elm was scary as well because it was a standalone. Well, in fairness, Broken Harbor was depressing enough that I knew I could come up with the depressing goods.
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