The Queen of Dirt Island

Ryan based Eileen Aylward, the "Queen" of the book's title, "loosely but quite faithfully" on his mother.[1] Upon reading an early draft of the novel, Ryan's mother did not recognize the character as inspired by her.[2] Ryan did not set out to write a book that "centers" women.[1] Ryan attributed the book's focus on women in part due to the fact that aspects of a central character, Saoirse, came to him "easily".[1] Ryan further attributed the focus on women to his childhood, during which women in his family and local area were strong presences.[1]

Ryan deliberately wrote each chapter to include exactly 500 words after writing several vignettes, later included in the novel, that were roughly this length.[1] The vignettes were inspired by the novels Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell.[3] He began work on The Queen of Dirt Island after sharing a draft of a "much longer and much darker novel" with his publisher, which his publisher declined to edit without substantial changes.[1] Ryan wrote The Queen of Dirt Island in 12 weeks.[3]

Amy Bloom, in a review published by The New York Times Book Review, praised the novel, referring to its short chapters as a "satisfying chain".[4]