Eggshells by Caitriona Lally – Book Review and Blog Tour with a Giveaway

I received a free copy of Eggshells from TLC Book Tours for my honest review.

About the Book:

Paperback: 256 pages

Publisher: Melville House (March 14, 2017)

— Irish Book of the Year Finalist!

A whimsical, touching debut about loneliness, friendship and hope…

Vivian doesn’t feel like she fits in — and never has. As a child, she was so whimsical that her parents told her she was “left by fairies.” Now, living alone in Dublin, the neighbors treat her like she’s crazy, her older sister condescends to her, social workers seem to have registered her as troubled, and she hasn’t a friend in the world.

So, she decides it’s time to change her life: She begins by advertising for a friend. Not just any friend. She wants one named Penelope.

Meanwhile, she roams the city, mapping out a new neighborhood every day, seeking her escape route to a better world, the other world her parents told her she came from.

And then one day someone named Penelope answers her ad for a friend. And from that moment on, Vivian’s life begins to change.

Debut author Caitriona Lally offers readers an exhilaratingly fresh take on the Irish love for lyricism, humor, and inventive wordplay in a book that is, in itself, deeply charming, and deeply moving.

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About the Author:

CAITRIONA LALLY studied English Literature in Trinity College Dublin.  She has had a colorful employment history, working as an abstract writer and a copywriter, as well as a home helper in New York and an English teacher in Japan. She has traveled extensively around Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America.  Caitriona was shortlisted for “Newcomer of the Year” in the Irish Book Awards in 2015.

Connect with Caitriona on Twitter.

My Opinon:

This is a truly unique book. It is really like nothing I have ever read before. I am still not sure whether I liked it or hated it. It confused me, entranced me, angered me, almost brought me to tears and literally made me gasp at one point. It makes no sense. I almost stopped reading it but I couldn’t put it down. I think I need to read it again.

It is a conundrum.

Ms. Lally has created a character in Vivian (the main Vivian, not her sister Vivian) that stays with you for days after you finish reading the book. It is Vivian’s book – there is little about much else than her quirks and her desire to find a way to the otherworld for she has been told all her life she’s a changeling and she feels she will only be at home when she can find her own people.

Vivian advertises for a friend – but she only wants a friend named Penelope – and through some miracle she gets a response and someone almost as add as she answers and they form a sort of friendship but since both of them are so wrapped up in their own worlds they can’t really see what is going on in the other’s life. Yet they are good for each other.

I cannot explain this book for it follows no real plot. I can tell you that I read some of the most amazing turns of phrase I have ever read. So beautifully worded I stopped my reading to go back and read them again. And again. I truly stepped out of my box for this one and I am glad that I did. I am not completely sure I grasped this book. I do think it took place somewhere over my head but it was a true reading experience.

Rating:

4.5

The Giveaway:

One lucky US reader will win a copy of Eggshells. Just enter as many ways as you would like on the Gleam widget below. Full rules are on the widget. Good luck everyone.

Eggshells