A cautionary tale for online mothers

IF THE name Sinéad Crowley sounds familiar to you, that’s because you see her on our screens regularly as RTE’s Arts and Media Correspondent. But with the publication last week of her debut novel,

‘Can Anybody Help Me?’, she is about to become an exciting new name in the world of literature.

Crowley grew up in Walkinstown before crossing the Liffey to Whitehall where she now lives with her journalist husband and two young children. It was while she was on maternity leave with her first child, Conor, that she got the idea for the book.

The themes explored in this fast-moving psychological thriller will resonate with mothers of young children everywhere – particularly those who use online forums to share parenting tips and look for baby advice.

One of the central characters, Yvonne, becomes hooked on an internet forum for new mammies. Her husband has landed his dream job as executive producer of a top current affairs TV show and she turns to the website to fill the void during those long days of practically raising a baby on her own.

When one of her virtual friends disappears from the online community, Yvonne initially just finds it curious. However, when the body of a young woman is found, alarm bells go off and she begins to fear for the safety of mothers using the website.

With the explosion of social media in recent years, Crowley has really captured the zeitgeist in terms of how we now communicate with others. It raises topical questions about how much information we are willing to share about ourselves with strangers and if we can ever really be certain of who we are divulging it to.

Another key character in the book, Sergeant Claire Boyle, is surely the most interesting pregnant policewoman to come along since Frances McDormand played Marge in

‘Fargo’. I expect we’ll be seeing more of her if Crowley has any plans for a sequel.

Crowley, a former film critic and journalist for this newspaper, has produced a book that will appeal to anyone who appreciates a riveting crime thriller with a twist you didn’t see coming. And despite its obvious appeal to mothers of young children, do not file under

‘chick lit’.

‘Can Anybody Help Me?’, by Sinéad Crowley, is published by Quercus and is now available from all leading bookshops and to download from Amazon as a digital edition.