Perfectly Preventable Deaths & Precious Catastrophe
We did it!! We finally got our episode on Deirdre Sullivan's Perfectly Preventable Deaths and Precious Catastophe recorded and posted!
I mean, the girls have much to share, with at least 60% of said sharing being on how much we LOVE Deirdre, seriously she is the actual best, we cannot.
But if we were to try to quantify what it is we have to say in this episode, we've got:
- Which do we like better – the humour or the lyricism? The question that nearly tears the friend group apart (not really)
- Mamó being an actual beast and then the wise woman archetype in general
- Predatory behaviour and how it’s permitted to just exist because we don’t really have the toolkit to combat it
- Ownership of human souls being a focus, and the main threat in both books
- The strength of sisterhood being the main power that fights that threat
- And of course, the most important erotic chimney metaphor of recent times
Tangents? I don't know if we did go on any tangents... (JK OF COURSE WE DID):
- Chloe’s been 공부해ing her Korean
- Clee’s trapezius muscle is still terrifying
- Saoirse and Sarah geek out considerably about Dwayne The Rock Johnson and lament the loss of Glenn Greenwald to sad, sad media criticism
- Astroworld and whether the Kardashians are agents of evil or women being real about the time, money and medical expertise involved in maintaining that body type
- How Chloe says the word “elegant”
- LC’s sister’s sexy, sexy BTS fanfic. Again.
- Irish death notices on the radio (no it’s NOT weird)
- Chloe’s Granny Nolan is beyond terrifying
- You can make Katie understand almost anything by comparing it to Series 7 of The Simpsons
- Of course following that we go on quite the tangent about the words “embiggen” and “cromulent”
Like...that's enough isn't it?
Catch the full episode
More on Perfectly Preventable Deaths:
Everyone in Ballyfran has a secret, and that is what binds them together…
Fifteen-year-old twins Madeline and Catlin move to a new life in Ballyfran, a strange isolated town, a place where, for the last sixty years, teenage girls have gone missing in the surrounding mountains.
As distance grows between the twins – as Catlin falls in love, and Madeline begins to understand her own nascent witchcraft – Madeline discovers that Ballyfrann is a place full of predators. Not only foxes, owls and crows, but also supernatural beings who for many generations have congregated here to escape persecution. When Catlin falls into the gravest danger of all, Madeline must ask herself who she really is, and who she wants to be – or rather, who she might have to become to save her sister.
Dark and otherworldly, this is an enthralling story about the bond between sisters and the sacrifices we make for those we care about the most. For fans of Frances Hardinge and Laure Eve.
More on Precious Catastrophe:
Look. Madeline. You’ve lost your soul. You’ve lost your freedom. You’ve lost a bit of your sister. What else could go wrong?
Catlin and Madeline are extraordinary sisters, living extraordinary lives – in a place that seems entirely ordinary, but which in fact seethes with secrets, both sacred and sinister. Ballyfran is a village where, for centuries, people who are not quite human have gathered. Catlin has already fallen foul of one such creature – a dark, vicious predator who almost killed her – and only Madeline giving up a part of her own soul was able to bring Catlin back from the brink of death.
Now, the girls are making their strange new lives: Catlin, haunted by what happened to her, is isolated and bereft; Madeline is learning ancient magics under the tutelage of local wise woman Mamó. Learning that magic isn’t mindfulness and hats. It’s work – hard work. And Madeline knows she has to keep watch. On her sister. On the things that happen. Notice things before they start to happen. And before long, they do …
More on Deirdre Sullivan:
Deirdre Sullivan is an award-winning writer from Galway. Her most recent book for young adults, Savage Her Reply is a dark retelling of The Children of Lir. Her debut for adults, a collection of short fiction, I Want To Know That I Will Be Okay was published by Banshee Press in May 2021. Her play, Wake, was produced by NoRopes Theatre Company in February 2019, in The Town Hall Theatre, Galway.
To find out more about Deirdre Sullivan, visit