Eggshells
By Caitriona Lally
Melville House, 273pp
If there's such a thing as normal, Vivian is far from it. She has no job, and she hasn't looked at herself in a mirror or showered in ages. Her quirkiness baffles almost everyone she encounters. Most readers of "Eggshells," the novel in which she appears, won't be exceptions to that.
Vivian lives alone in Dublin in a house left by her late great-aunt. She has an equally odd friend called Penelope whom she found by placing an ad.
Claiming to be a "changeling," she roams around the city by bus and on foot in a quest for a portal where magic happens so that she can find her way back to another world.
The expectation that something dramatic must be about to happen is betrayed every time you turn the page. Instead, it is Vivian's sparkling yet often dark sense of humor that keeps your eyes fixed on the book.
Her descriptions of Dublin Bus will certainly give a chuckle to those who have experienced the service: "A steam of heat hits me, along with the mushroomy tang of unwashed underthings that could be bottled as The Smell of Dublin Bus." (To be fair, it's not that bad in some parts of the city.)
Her harmless but compelling sarcasm is like an addictive toxin comfortably seeping into you. She sees and senses the world in her own way and has no interest whatsoever in leaning toward others.
While on one level the novel is an amusing, twisted Dublin city guide from Vivian's peculiar perspective, what also emerges through her narrative are the cruel, cold reactions of people who have no time for this woman who behaves bizarrely. A shop assistant gives her "a small sad smile, as if the lights on a Christmas tree have dimmed," while her sister looks at her "with a grave expression like she's deciding what to wear to my funeral."
A subtle but definite discomfort looms over the conversation between Vivian and her sister, who leads an affluent middle-class lifestyle. When Vivian does try to interact with her, the only result is a dense awkwardness between them.
A scattering of Vivian's painfully candid statements also hints at her untold past. In a cemetery, she says, "Every dead person is 'Dearly Beloved' or 'Sadly Missed,' but that can't be true for all of them; death brings out the worst of lies." Then she confesses: "I didn't cry when my father died; I cried while he was alive."
An initially fuzzy, funny tale of an extremely eccentric woman gradually comes into focus as it reveals her despair. Author Caitriona Lally meticulously has accumulated layers of hilarious and sad moments to deftly build a story that stirs the emotions.
"I don't know why people talk of the terror of being buried alive -- surely the terror is in being alive," Vivian mutters. Her words linger in the ear, and you soon realize you were one of those judgmental people with shallow sympathy. Like that shop assistant, and her sister.
"Eggshells" immerses readers in Vivian's unique world. It requires a lot of patience and might not be everyone's choice. But don't judge whether you like it until the very last chapter. You will probably be surprised to find yourself in deep rapport with her.
-- Atsuko Matsumoto
Japan News Staff Writer
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