Infernal islands, macabre mansions and withering woods: sites of trauma and loss in the contemporary Gothic novel

Abstract

This practice-based thesis, which expands on the concerns of the contemporary Gothic novel, consists of Painebaile, a Gothic novel, and three reflexive analytical essays which situate my creative work in essential wider literary and critical contexts.

Painebaile is set on a fictional island in the Gulf of Maine, on the east coast of North America. Three decades ago, it experienced a series of unexplained disappearances and is now the focus of a research project on the effects of trauma and ambiguous loss on a small, close-knit community. Clarice McKendry, a psychology researcher living in Northern Ireland, returns to Painebaile, the island of her birth, to assist with this project and to delve into the mysteries of her own past.

Each of the essays in my critical component analyses a different subject pertinent to Painebaile and the contemporary Gothic novel. Essay One examines how trauma and ambiguous loss are portrayed within Painebaile, with a particular emphasis on how they have affected the characters in my novel. My second essay considers three crucial choices I made while writing Painebaile, namely which point of view it should be written in, solving pacing concerns, and the influence of the Covid19 pandemic. Essay Three harnesses an EcoGothic lens to explore humanity’s relationship with nature and the ongoing climate crisis, and how I have embedded these issues in my novel in order to critique them. Each essay also includes analysis of several critically acclaimed contemporary Gothic novels which influenced my work and approach to writing Painebaile.

 A practice-based PhD has given me the unique opportunity to use the contemporary Gothic novel creatively and critically to vigorously engage with vital contemporary issues such as trauma, ambiguous loss and the climate crisis, and reveals why the Gothic remains such an effective choice for expressing contemporary anxieties.

Thesis embargoed until 31 December 2027

Date of Award	Nov 2025
Original language	English
Sponsors	Department for the Economy
Supervisor	Andrew Keanie (Supervisor), Katherine Byrne (Supervisor), Kathleen Mc Cracken (Supervisor) & Frank Ferguson (Supervisor)