Derry author Kerri ni Dochartaigh’s debut ‘Thin Places’ explores a ‘healing narrative’

The Derry woman’s debut, which was released last month and described as a ‘remarkable piece of writing’ by Robert MacFarlane, explores Kerri’s life growing up in the city, which was deeply impacted by poverty, loss and trauma.

It explores mental illness and recovery, the invisible border and the light that exists in the darkness. Thin Places is also steeped in imagery of nature and delves into the importance of the connection to the land.

It explores how the natural world can help heal the traumas of childhood, and the ‘thin places’ she has encountered across Derry and Donegal and further afield and looks at how beauty and hope can be found in the most unlikely of places.

In the blurb for the book, it tells how it is ‘a mixture of memoir, social history and nature writing – Kerri explores how nature kept her sane and helped her heal, how violence and poverty are never more than a stone’s throw from beauty and hope, and how we are once again allowing our borders to harden and divisions to form.’

One of the most engaging lines in the Thin Places tells: ‘I hope you never find yourself in a situation where you need to protect a child from witnessing bloodshed in the very streets on which they have no choice but to live. But if you ever should, I urge you, find books about wild creatures for them, find them a microscope, a magnifying glass, anything at all that helps the unknown make sense…”

The book has been a big hit and hailed by book lovers. Kerri told the Journal how the reaction has been ‘unbelievable’ and she is ‘so grateful for so much valuable support across the board.’

Thin Places is an extremely personal and honest book and Kerri admitted that while it was ‘really difficult to write, it was really important to write it.’

She said that not only did it allow her to continue to heal, she hopes it will also open a further conversation about healing, both personally and politically.

“I think the way healing works is that we all stand on each other’s shoulders. The journey of healing, in Ireland in general, requires stories and voices. When one person speaks out about something, it’s like a wee bell ringing and it echoes and reverberates. People coming forward can have a bigger impact that we realise. It lets other people know and feel their story is valid and there’s a safer environment.”

Kerri told how she wants to play her part in ‘ensuring people can speak.’

“We have been silenced for so long, in so many different ways. The less silencing that happens, the more healing happens.”

Kerri was born in Derry to a Catholic mother and a Protestant father. The book looks at how this impacted on her family and how they were treated.

She outlined how she wanted to write a story that ‘moved away’ from resentment and criticism.

She believes the ‘loss we’re connected to in the north moves further back.’

“If you look at intergenerational trauma on the land etc. we started saying goodbye to people because we couldn’t feed them. That does something to a society.

“For years we have had our people having to leave these lands, especially in Derry and Donegal and now we have Brexit and all that is accompanying that.”

Kerri, who is already well-respected for her personal and nature pieces said that while revisiting her own memories in the book was difficult, it served as a type of release for her.

“It is a book of darkness, yet it is a also a book of light and hope. It is a healing narrative. “

Kerri, who lives with her partner and dog in a railway cottage in the heart of Ireland told how she has been getting ‘constant feedback’ on the book from around the world.

The book, she believes, had come at a agood time, when people are at home more and are looking inward, while exploring healing.

Thin Places is available now and signed copies can be obtained locally at Jenni Doherty’s Little Acorns bookshop in Derry.