Eggshells

November 28, 2016
In this whimsical debut novel, Lally chronicles the wanderings of Vivian, a lonely woman who believes herself to be a fairy whose days are spent searching Dublin for the “thin places” that might return her home, “portals to another world.” In between these outings she visits with her friend Penelope, whom she meets after posting an advertisement for someone of that name in hopes of figuring out “why she doesn’t rhyme with antelope,” and her straightlaced sister, who, as Vivian observes, “copes better with her own words than with mine.” Words, in fact, are Vivian’s primary concern. She makes lists of eccentric names to write in her “notebook of certainties” and muses about having the letter K abolished (“a good ‘C’ or a double ‘CC’ would do nicely”). As Vivian’s inquiries about a door to Oz or Hades are met by strangers who blink in response like they have “just come out of the cinema into the sunlight,” Lally’s charmingly droll prose takes on a desperate edge. Having suffered a parade of predictable disappointments, Vivian is no closer to fitting in than she began, and her greatest fantasy is as commonplace as eliciting a laugh over drinks with friends. “They’re bent double and drink is pouring out their noses,” she imagines, “but that is just the start of my jokes, there are more.”

December 1, 2016
Dubliner Vivian Lawlor doesn't fit in anywhere. Will she ever find her place in this world?Debut novelist Lally creates a portrait of loneliness through the whimsical and obsessive Viv, who meticulously and painstakingly plots her daily walks through the streets of Dublin. The Irishwoman lives in the cluttered home she inherited from her deceased great-aunt, with whom she had lived since her parents' deaths. Auntie was a Grey Gardens-style hoarder with an impressive collection of oddball items. Quirkiness runs in the Lawlor family, and before their deaths, Viv's parents managed to convince this daughter (they have another, also named Vivian) that she's a changeling from another world. Viv is now a woman searching for portals to the world where she belongs and desperately seeking a friend. Her interactions with the people she crosses paths with in her daily life--shopkeepers, taxi drivers, urban pedestrians--are so, so awkward, they are at once delightfully hilarious and painfully cringeworthy. But they will never lead to friendship, and so Viv posts a sign advertising for a pal. Not just any friend. This charmingly touched heroine is on the hunt for a friend named Penelope (no Pennies need apply). Viv, who insists on the abbreviated version of her name because she loves palindromes, wants to ask this new friend why Penelope does not rhyme with antelope. When Viv meets her Penelope, she's met her match. Though not a grounding influence, Penelope's friendship forces Viv to see her world from a new perspective. Absent the dramatic character arcs or plot twists readers would expect from an American novel, this urban fairy tale delivers something that is both subtle and profound in its examination of the human soul. Magically delicious.

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Starred review from January 1, 2017

Currently unemployed, Vivian lives in the Dublin house a deceased aunt bequeathed to her and spends her days searching the city for portals to enchanted realms. She may in fact be a changeling, and discovering a way back home is one of her priorities. She also acquires a goldfish, advertises for a friend named Penelope, visits a sister also named Vivian, and makes lists of names, words, and things she hopes will reveal patterns or spells that will help her return to the place she believes she belongs. Vivian carefully maps her journeys throughout the city, noticing the likenesses between the routes she traces and things in the world. While apparently stuck in the human realm, she offers perceptions of the city and its people who are magical, though they may be rooted in trauma she cannot fully elude. Even so, Vivian never abandons her quest. VERDICT Lally's sensational first novel is a love letter to Dublin as well as the incantatory and transformative powers of language. Indeed, Vivian's voice is the real enchantment of this warm, witty debut.--John G. Matthews, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Lally's first novel is a whimsical jaunt through Dublin and a modern take on many old Irish folktales. When she was a child, Vivian's parents believed her to be a changeling and tried to get the fairies to return their own healthy child in her place. As an adult, Vivian still believes she is a fairy and belongs in another world. She spends her days roaming Dublin in search of the thin places where she can find the portal to the fairy underworld. Along the way, Vivian advertises for a friend named Penelope (so she can ask why her name doesn't rhyme with antelope ) and struggles with finding the right words in every situation. In this lovingly penned journey full of funny witticisms and creative thoughts, readers are invited into the mind of someone who possesses a highly unusual sensibility. What the novel lacks in plot (nothing much actually happens) is made up for by Lally's humorous, charming, and original writing and narration.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)