Her mother was the actor Shelah Richards and her father was the playwright and war correspondent Denis Johnston, who is regarded as the subject of Johnston’s 2009 novel Truth or Fiction, about an ageing playwright who feels forgotten.
“In its oblique speech, knotty lyricism and careful description, Johnston’s novel conveys both the insanity of war and the poignancy of unspoken tenderness,” wrote Philip Womack in an Observer review of the novel.
Once lauded ‘the best writer in Ireland’, Johnston began publishing in her 40s and was Booker-shortlisted for her 1977 novel set during the Troubles, Shadows on Our Skin.
“Johnston can pack much into a brief space; her hallmark, as a writer, is stylish economy,” wrote Penelope Lively in a Guardian review of the novel.
While “the bigger picture – war, culture clash, the Northern Irish troubles – might not take centre stage” in her novels, “it is always there in the background, perhaps a more realistic portrayal of the way history subtly intrudes on most people’s lives,” wrote Rosie Cowan in the Guardian in 2004.
