I could see it forever, for us: walking through cities, laughing at things that weren’t that funny.” When Julian tells her he’s returning to Hong Kong, she must navigate the precarious situation she’s inadvertently created. During an evening stroll, she thinks: “I didn't need to know how other women went about being together. Telling neither the full truth about the other, Ava finds herself falling in love with Edith. With Ava still living in Julian’s apartment, she and Edith fall into a quick friendship that evolves into a relationship. When Julian leaves for London on an extended work project, Ava meets Edith, a Hong Kong local and ambitious lawyer. As they fall into a quasi-relationship, Ava moves into his apartment, where Julian allows her to live rent-free.
In her first months as an expat, she meets Julian-a 28-year-old English banker-who seems aloof about everything except his job. Noting that the school hires only white people, she remarks: “Like sharks’ teeth, teachers dropped out and were replaced.” From the jump, Ava approaches the world with cleareyed humor. In Irish author Dolan's debut novel, 22-year-old narrator Ava relocates from Dublin to Hong Kong to teach grammar at a school for English-language learners. – money, love, cynicism, unspoken feelings and unlikely connections.A young millennial finds herself in a love triangle with a man and woman. – Edith, who Ava meets while Julian is out of town and actually listens to her when she talks – Julian, who likes to spend money on Ava and lets her move into his guest room – a badly-paid job in Hong Kong, teaching English grammar to rich children When Ava leaves Ireland aged 22 to make her own money, she’s not sure what to call it, but it involves: When you leave Ireland aged 22 to spend your parents’ money, it’s called a gap year. …This is comic writing at the highest level’ Craig Brown, DAILY MAIL ‘ I n the tradition of Dorothy Parker, Joan Rivers and Nora Ephron … I found myself purring with pleasure. ‘ A frankly sensational book‘ Pandora Sykes on THE HIGH LOW Some of Dolan’s pithy observations of her characters are the best I’ve read since Edward St Aubyn‘ OBSERVER ‘ I’ve been pushing Exciting Times on everyone I know. ‘ Droll, shrewd and unafraid – a winning debut‘ Hilary Mantel, author of WOLF HALL ‘ More than lives up to the hype … Likely to fill the Sally-Rooney-shaped hole in many readers’ lives‘ IRISH TIMES I loved it‘ David Nicholls, author of ONE DAY ‘ A sharp, smart, witty modern love story. ‘ The book of the summer … Kept me rapt until the final page‘ THE TIMES
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