I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay by Deirdre Sullivan
192 pages
Paperback
13 May 2021
ISBN: 978-0-9956550-7-2
It had felt a bit like being haunted, being pregnant. Unexpected thumps, and moments when she would be reminded that there was a little person living inside of her. For a while afterwards, sometimes it would feel like she was still inside, and Kate would tap her stomach, or say something to the baby before she remembered that she was alone.
In this dark, glittering collection of short stories, Deirdre Sullivan explores the trauma and power that reside in women’s bodies.
A teenage girl tries to fit in at a party held in a haunted house, with unexpected and disastrous consequences. A mother and daughter run a thriving online business selling antique dolls, while their customers get more than they bargained for. And after a stillbirth, a young woman discovers that there is something bizarre and wondrous growing inside of her.
With empathy and invention, Sullivan effortlessly blends genres in stories that are by turns strange and exquisite. Already established as an award-winning writer for children and young adults, I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay marks her arrival as a captivating new voice in literary fiction.
Other Formats & Editions
About the Author
Deirdre Sullivan is a writer and teacher from Galway. She has written seven acclaimed books for young adults, including Savage Her Reply (Little Island 2020), Perfectly Preventable Deaths (Hot Key Books 2019), and Tangleweed and Brine (Little Island 2017). She was the recipient of the CBI Book of the Year Award in 2018 and the An Post Irish Book Award for YA in 2020. Her short fiction has appeared in Banshee and The Dublin Review. I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay is her first book for adults.
Media
The best books of the year, as chosen by the booksellers of Dubray | Dubray Books | 16 December 2021
Deirdre Sullivan wins Writing.ie Short Story of the Year 2021 | Writing.ie | 23 November 2021
Deirdre on Arena | RTE Radio 1 | 29 June 2021
‘The Host’, a new short story by Deirdre Sullivan | The Irish Times | 27 May 2021
Damaged dolls, haunted houses | The Irish Times | 22 May 2021
Deirdre on All About Books | Dublin City FM | 20 May 2021
Deirdre Sullivan’s hypnotic mixture of real pain and the paranormal | Irish Independent | 15 May 2021
Deirdre on writing I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay | Dubray Books | 3 May 2021
Darkling stories in unnerving, visceral new collection from Deirdre Sullivan | Books Ireland | 22 March 2021
Culture Guide 2021: Books | Irish Independent | 2 January 2021
Books to look out for in 2021 | Irish Times | 2 January 2021
Praise for I Want to Know That I Will Be Okay
“Lusciously strange and deeply human, these are stories that linger long after the final sentence. A rich, vibrant and deeply imaginative collection.”
“So dark and deep and visceral and brilliant ... the collection just pulses with mysterious, magical feminine energy. She conveys our power, our complicated route to it and its essential slipperiness.”
“As macabre as Roald Dahl at his finest, Deirdre Sullivan’s collection of short stories is an eerie, uncanny thing. Beautiful and haunting in equal measures.”
“This is the best short story collection I’ve read in years ... it’s so creepy and funny and strange.”
“Sullivan creates a relatable world which – on the surface – looks like ours. But it is filled with short, sharp shocks and bittersweet surprises. Haunted bodies, houses, minds. Such brilliantly skilful storytelling; you barely notice you’re being led into the dark, until it’s too late. ”
“A wonderfully strange and visceral collection, these stories are both exquisite and fantastically unnerving. Sullivan is a uniquely talented writer, who has here woven together uncanny tales of the body, of Ireland, of femaleness, and of the slow and silent degradation so often inherent in human relationships.”