Career
McCarthy was part of the growth in contemporary women"s Irish fiction which emerged in the 1990s. Other notable authors of this movement include Patricia Scanlan, Maeve Binchy and Cathy Kelly. McCarthy"s books were regarded as "thinking fiction" within the industry, and were a marked departure from the simultaneously flourishing genre of holiday novels, also known as "chick lit".
All of her work received favourable reviews from television programmes and book reviews in the Irish Daily Star, The Irish Times and The Irish Independent newspapers.
In Ireland she appeared on TV3 in person as well as in interviews on radio for Today FM and Near FM. She wrote articles for the Irish Independent, Sunday World Magazine, Women"s Way, Journal.ie and Bark! magazine.