Sophie White talks reading, writing and what makes ‘Such a Good Couple’

Sophie White’s catalogue of titles ranges from an award-winning and exquisitely disturbing horror novel, to a bestselling memoir, to works of popular fiction. A columnist for LIFE magazine and the co-host of two podcasts, Mother of Pod and The Creep Dive, Sophie has just released her eighth title, Such a Good Couple.

The book follows three couples, made up of a group of college friends who have grown into pretty different people in adulthood. On their annual group holiday, things go south, and when one marriage goes up in flames, the other relationships are thrown into disarray.

Superstar husband, Hollywood mansion, stylist on speed-dial — Maggie’s life has never looked better. No one, not even Fionn (who’s usually in a different time zone), can tell how much she’s struggling.

Annie is trying to have a baby. Conor is trying to talk to Annie about their crumbling relationship. But surely breaking up after two decades together would be ludicrous — and if they do, how will Annie ever become a mother?

Clara and Ollie spend most of their days shouting to each other from different rooms of their crowded home, but Clara thinks they are mostly happy. Until she spots a text on Ollie’s phone that might blow their life up.

It is the kind of unputdownable book that makes for the perfect holiday companion. These characters will live in your head rent-free for weeks, and you’ll find yourself itching to check in with them long after you’ve put it down.

Did you always want to be a writer? Tell us about your journey to becoming a published author.

No, I didn’t want to be a writer at all until I was in my late 20s. I always adored reading, but I never thought I could be a writer. When I was younger, I wanted to be an artist. I went to art college and studied sculpture in NCAD, and then after college, I worked as a chef for most of my 20s.

What inspired you to start writing?

I just loved books so much that gradually I started to be curious about whether or not I could maybe write a book myself one day. Initially, I got a writing job through my cooking. I was hired to write recipes and articles for a brand. It wasn’t under my own name, which was actually great because I could be creative and learn as I went without feeling too exposed or under too much pressure. That led to getting a chance to write recipes for LIFE magazine while their food writer was on maternity leave. That experience was huge and also terrifying.

I was incredibly lucky to work for Brendan O’Connor, and he was incredibly encouraging of my writing. That column eventually attracted the interest of my first publisher, Gill, who asked me if I would ever be interested in writing a cookbook. It was a massively daunting prospect, but I also knew it was an unbelievable opportunity. I pitched them a cookbook-memoir, and they were into it, so from that came my first book, Recipes For A Nervous Breakdown, which told the story of my first breakdown that I had in my early 20s.

Tell us about your new book, Such a Good Couple. Where did the idea come from?

My new novel is called Such A Good Couple, and it’s about three couples who have all been friends since college. They’re all incredibly close and have essentially grown up together, though their lives are now all wildly different. One of the couples, Maggie and Finn, is now stratospherically rich because the husband Finn has become an A-List actor (Paul Mescal-esque!). Clara and Ollie, meanwhile, are under a lot of financial pressure and just trying to keep their heads above water. Lastly, Annie and Conor are trying to have a baby, which is causing a lot of tension in their relationship. While the gang are on their annual group holiday, one couple’s marriage crashes and burns and the fallout leaves them all questioning everything.

What do you hope this book instils in the reader?

My hope is that the book makes readers laugh and also moves them. I think the book is fun and kind of juicy and gossipy but there’s also a lot of tough themes that I think a lot of people will relate to: being in a long relationship and trying to keep the love alive through all that life throws at us; fertility struggles, eating disorders and also just what exactly actually does make ‘such a good couple’? There’s so much emphasis on romantic relationships, but with this book, I wanted to highlight how often it is our friends that sustain us and also that ‘family’ can look a lot of different ways.

What did you learn when writing this book?

To be honest, I learned a lot about eating disorders. I drew on my own rocky relationship with food, but I also had to read widely on the subject. I was lucky as well that two women were willing to share their stories with me.

Tell us about your writing process.

My writing process changes all the time. I think this is in part because my kids are constantly changing stages, and their needs shift from year to year, and also it is very much connected to my getting older and having very different energy levels. I’ve written eight books in nine years, and in that time, I have worked out my writing schedule in every way. I wrote my first book at night after my son went to bed. The next few I wrote from 6am to 8am before my work day started, while my husband got the kids up and ready. Then we’d drop them to school and creche. At the moment, I write in the morning while my kids are at school, and I do my other work in and around this. This is quite a boring answer, I’m afraid, lol. I do a lot of prep work for the books, outlining the story and character arcs. This is really important for me because most of my books have several main characters and storylines.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

The two biggest sources of inspiration for me are reading articles and chatting to people, especially people at parties and things like that, people I don’t know particularly well. So be careful what you tell me if we’re ever chatting at a party.

Who are some of your favourite authors, Irish or otherwise?

Marian Keyes, Elizabeth Strout, Louise O’Neill, Stephen King, Meg Wolitzer, Jon Krakauer, Sarah Manguso, Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght, Mary Karr, Alison Rumfitt, Dorothy McCardle and loads more.