CR 042: Amelia Ireland on Grief, Loss, and Juicy Plot Twists

The author discusses her debut novel, "The Seven O’Clock Club."

Photo courtesy of Amelia Ireland

Amelia Ireland’s debut novel, The Seven O’Clock Club, is, at its core, about grief and how we each have our own way of dealing with loss. But thanks to a shocking plot twist that completely changes the trajectory of the story, it is an unputdownable read that Publishers Weekly is calling “a high-wire act” and “’irresistible.”

The story focuses on four strangers—privileged Victoria, sensitive Mischa, heartbroken Freya, and heartthrob Callum—who are selected by a woman named Genevieve to participate in an experimental form of group therapy. Each of the four has experienced loss and they gather once a week in Genevieve’s flat to discuss their heartbreak in the hopes of moving on. As the four of them share their stories in the weekly sessions, their lives become intertwined, though they soon learn they’re connected in ways they never could have imagined.

Ireland recently took a break from her day job as a lawyer to chat with me about the writing of the novel,…