The release date for the English version of 'Exciting Times' by
Naoise Dolan is Jun 2020. If you enjoy this novel, it is available for buy as a paperback from Barnes & Noble or Indigo, as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle store, or as an audiobook on Audible.
A young Irish immigrant gets caught up in a romantic triangle with a female lawyer and a male banker in this warm, witty first book.
Ava travelled to Hong Kong in an attempt to find happiness, but things aren't going well so far. Since leaving Dublin, she has been teaching English to wealthy kids during the day (she is put in charge of the grammar lessons since she is cold) and spent her evenings dodging obnoxious roommates in her little flat.
Julian, a clever British banker, offers Ava a way into a luxurious lifestyle that her little income could never support when she meets him. Ava finds herself moving into Julian's flat, letting him purchase her things, and finally starting a sexual relationship with him, all while ignoring her feminist leanings and better judgement. She remains at the same place, unclear of the status of their relationship, until Julian has to return to London for work.
Bring on Edith. Striking and ambitious, Edith is a Hong Kong-born lawyer who takes Ava to the theatre before leaving her flowers in the hallway. Ava desires her and aspires to be her. Ava finds herself at a crossroads when Julian declares that he is going back to Hong Kong since she has been meticulously feigning that he is just an absentee flatmate. Is it better for her to go back to her comfortable compatibility with Julian or go into the unknown with Edith?
Exciting Times is thrillingly sensitive to the huge freedoms and bigger uncertainties of contemporary love. It is politically aware, heartbreakingly real, and dryly humorous. Naoise Dolan presents herself as a unique new voice while deconstructing the financial and human transactions that comprise a life in elegant, simple writing.