Books: Anise Eden on latest title and how a Corkman’s chat-up line changed her life

A former psychotherapist turned novelist, Anise Eden has a new book out, the third in the Things Unseen Trilogy entitled Dead Late. It is Anise’s sixth book.

Having been diagnosed late in life with ADHD, she weaves in themes around mental health in her novels to raise awareness and reduce stigma.

Mallow-based Anise is American, originally from Maryland. It took a Cork man to bring her to Ireland in a brave chatting-up gambit.

“When I was living in New York City, I was on my own in a Chinese restaurant in Manhattan one time. Ken (Kelleher) was also on his own. He worked up the courage to ask me if I was dining alone.

“Normally in New York City, if a stranger asks if they can join you, the answer is ‘no’. But there was something about his energy and I said ‘yeah’. It also happened that I had a huge book with me on the druids so that was a conversation starter.

“I wanted reputable information about them so I asked Ken if he knew anything about the author. He said yes, the writer was well respected.”

A few weeks later, Ken told Anise that he had been bluffing about the book on the druids.

“At that point, we had fallen for each other. That was in 2002. We moved over here in 2018. Ken’s father had passed away so we moved to Mallow to be closer to his family.

“I had been to Ireland a few times before that and I loved it. As far as I was concerned, we were at a point in our lives when we could take on a new adventure. That’s what it felt like to me.”

In the US, Anise had practised as a psychotherapist and was a clinical social worker. She worked in a number of mental health-related social work roles.

“I absolutely loved the work. It could be emotionally demanding and stressful, depending on the circumstances you’re working in. I tended to work with very high-risk populations. But it was very fulfilling and wonderful to see people improve.

“When I arrived in Ireland, I learned that practising as a psychotherapist here requires a different set of qualifications. At the time, I was thinking about shifting the focus of my career anyway. Eventually I got a job at UCC as a part-time assistant lecturer and tutor in social work.”

But there was also Anise’s strong creative side. She had been writing poetry all her life as a hobby. Some of her poems were published in literary magazines. “But it would be very hard to make a career out of poetry,” she says, laughing.

However, Anise, with time on her hands, says that her writing “came flooding back”.

“I had an urge to write. That’s how I started my first novel. I had never attempted a novel before. I felt this impulse to write a novel. The plot and characters landed in my head and I was off to the races!

“It took me about three weeks to write the first draft – and another three years to edit it. I wrote my latest book in fits and starts over the course of nine months.”

While some writers plot and plan their novels, Anise is not that kind of writer.

“My brain sort of percolates the plot in the back of my head. As I’m writing, it emerges. I don’t know how exactly a novel is going to work out. It’s almost like the book reveals itself to me as I’m writing it.”

Dead Late is set in Cork, where American psychotherapist, Neve Keane and Irish doctor, Cornelius O’Brien find themselves “ensnared in a deadly race against time”.

Cornelius has brought his new girlfriend, Neve, to Ireland for a romantic getaway. There’s just one task they must first undertake, a personal favour for the (fictional) president of the US. His goddaughter is struggling with a strange medical/psychological problem while studying in Cork. They have been asked to check on her. But with every step, Neve and Cornelius “find themselves first slipping, then plummeting towards a terrifying clandestine world at the abyss of human suffering”.

Cornelius must make a terrible choice; violate the Hippocratic Oath or put Neve in imminent danger. Neve faces her own dilemma. She has to either honour her promise to Cornelius or act quickly to keep an innocent young woman out of the hands of vicious murderers. With the patient prepped, the clock is ticking.

While Anise says there are moments of humour interspersed with romance in the novel, it is basically a thriller. It includes scenes at Shandon Bells and Patrick Street, and there is a hotel based on the Hayfield Manor.

Anise’s late dog, Polo, who died earlier this year, has been “immortalised” in the thriller. He had been her constant companion while she wrote.

A portion of the proceeds from Dead Late will be donated to the Homeless Animal Rescue Team, near Doneraile.

Having struggled with ADHD until she got a diagnosis around the time of her perimenopause, Anise had brain fog and had trouble staying organised and motivated.

“I had never really been able to stay on top of things. It was always a struggle but it got really difficult. I started to research these symptoms online. It seemed that the issues I had were signs of ADHD. I got an official diagnosis. 

"ADHD is something you have your whole life. I’ve had it since childhood. I became very good at masking (the condition), appearing normal, managing the symptoms without too much of a fuss.”

Having the diagnosis “really helps me because I no longer blame myself as much as I did when struggling with something. A lot of the shame has been taken away. As part of that, I have been participating with ADHD Ireland as a contributor to some of their podcasts. That has been really empowering in learning a lot about ADHD and having a community of other people who struggle with it.”

Dead Late is published by Tangled Tree Publishing.