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.”

Narrator Alana Kerr Collins has the Irish accent that this story, set in Dublin, requires. Vivian, who tells her own story, was told by her parents that she was left behind by fairies, and she's still searching for the portal that will lead her home. In spite of sincere efforts, she's estranged from her sister, also named Vivian; dealing with neighbors and social workers who think she's crazy or troubled; and searching for a friend named Penelope. Collins gives Vivian a voice that sounds confident as she makes plans and puzzled as she tries to work out why the plans don't succeed. She even manages to inject life into the many lists that Vivian recites. A unique mix of whimsy, humor, sadness, and hope make Vivian a character listeners will want to root for. N.E.M. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine