Join Louise O’Neill and Bethany Rutter as they speak with Sarah Shaffi about their fantastic new publications. Louise’s new release, Idol, is a timely, twisty thriller, which explores the duplicitous world of online influencers and celebrity lifestyle cults through a disputed account of a teenage sexual awakening that goes viral. Bethany’s adult debut, Welcome To Your Life, is heart-warming, hilarious and unputdownable, a love story and this year’s stand out romantic comedy.

Louise O’Neill’s first novel, Only Ever Yours, was released in 2014 and won the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the year at the Irish Book Award, the Eilís Dillon Award for a First Book and the Bookseller’s inaugural YA Book Prize. Her adult novels include Almost Love published in 2018 and After the Silence published in 2020 and was an instant bestseller in Ireland. It won Crime Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and has also been optioned for screen. Idol is her third adult novel.

Bethany Rutter is a writer, podcaster and plus-sized influencer. Her adult debut, Welcome To Your Life, came to life through conversations with her friends over drinks in London. Swapping stories of toe-curling online dates, workplace harassment, new crushes, fashion discoveries and workout classes, she wanted to write a heroine who turns her life upside-down just ahead of her thirtieth birthday and is plunged into the wonderful chaos of contemporary urban life.

Sarah Shaffi is a journalist, editor and interviewer, among many other things, with more than a decade of experience working at newspapers, magazines and websites. As a freelance writer, Sarah has bylines at Stylist, Phoenix, Penguin.co.uk, The New Arab and more. She specialises in books, but also writes about politics, race, and pop culture (and the intersection of all three).

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