Bestselling author Amanda Cassidy on spending a day behind bars for her fourth novel, The Stranger Inside, and what inspires her stories.
Researching my latest book inside a prison was challenging, but it reminded me why I write crime fiction in the first place.
I’ve always been fascinated by the gap between who we think we are and who we can become when pushed to our limits. It’s a theme that runs throughout my crime fiction. I’m always trying to find that moment when an ordinary person finds themselves in extraordinary circumstances. For me, storytelling has always been about connection. Whether it’s through my years as a journalist, my current work in corporate communications, or the late nights at my kitchen table writing thrillers, the aim is always the same: to make someone see themselves, or someone they know, in the pages of my books.
When I first began writing The Stranger Inside, I wanted to explore the idea of someone’s identity under siege. What happens when you’re stripped of everything? What happens when you lose your home, your freedom and your reputation? What happens when the only thing left is the truth in your gut? Set in Dublin city, this book tells the story of Ciara Duffy, a midwife who is framed for her husband’s murder. When she realises the justice system may not save her, Ciara has some big choices to make. It’s a high-stakes premise, but at its heart, it’s about a mother’s love and the resilience that can fuel.
To Tell a Story – Honestly
To tell that story honestly, I knew I had to understand what life inside a prison would feel like. I needed to experience the sounds and the claustrophobia. I had no idea if those incarcerated wore a uniform, or if there were bars on the windows? (No, and no). That’s how I found myself spending an afternoon behind the walls of an actual prison. Walking through the gates was like stepping into another world. I’d been here before through my work in journalism, but this was different. I spoke to staff and to inmates, listening to how they described their days and trying to make sure my descriptions would be as authentic and as representative as possible without being in any way disrespectful or flippant. I wanted to capture the slow grind of prison life in The Stranger Inside so it would contrast with the jolt of adrenaline when Ciara decides to try and escape her fictional situation. What really struck me was how everyone behind those walls had their own personal and usually sad circumstances of how they ended up in a place like that. But I wasn’t there to judge. I left very much feeling my privilege.
People often ask where my ideas come from in general and the truth is that they’re stitched together from moments I’ve experienced, places I’ve travelled and questions I’ve asked during my work as a journalist. My work in corporate communications with Deloitte sharpened my sense of audience and my life as a mother has deepened my understanding of what extremes some of us will go to in order to protect the people we love. For The Stranger Inside, all of those threads came together. The journalist in me wanted the prison scenes to ring true. The communicator in me wanted the pace to be unrelenting and the mother in me wanted the emotional core to be so strong it would carry the reader to the heart-wrenching finale.
Researching inside a prison was challenging, but it also reminded me why I write crime fiction in the first place. For some writers it’s about the puzzle of the crime. And while I love a clever twist, for me, it’s about the human truths underneath. It’s about guilt, innocence, justice, revenge, love, loss. These are human foibles as old as storytelling itself. As for what’s next? Well, right now, I’m going to focus on edits for my next novel, Beautiful Liars, which is set in an affluent coastal village in Dublin and begins when a 17-year-old girl goes missing in the woods. It’s about three mothers and the lengths they’ll go to protect their children. (Do you see a theme emerging!?) Like The Stranger Inside, it’s a crime story, but it’s also an exploration of loyalty and my favourite….secrets people would kill to keep.
Ultimately, what inspires me is the hope that somewhere, someone will read a line I’ve written and feel less alone, or that they’ll find a piece of themselves in the story.
(c) Amanda Cassidy
@amandacasssidy on X (Twitter)
About The Stranger Inside:
You’re behind bars, framed for a crime you didn’t commit.
Midwife Ciara Duffy goes to sleep and wakes in the small hours to find her husband beside her – stabbed through the heart. Soon she is arrested and charged with his murder.
You get one chance to run.
Ciara knows she is innocent. She has no one to rely on. Meanwhile, her young daughter is gravely ill. Ciara has to fight – by any means necessary.
Do you take it?
The day comes when getting out might be possible. But Ciara’s choices are bleak: hope justice prevails and she gets to her daughter in time. Or become a fugitive on the hunt for a killer.
A compulsive thriller that grips and never lets go from the Irish Times bestseller. Perfect for fans of Andrea Mara, Catherine Ryan Howard and Lisa Jewell.
The Stranger Inside is published by Canelo and is in shops now. Order your copy online here.
And read more Meet the Authors of Crime Fiction on Writing.ie here.
