Among the many complaints from why-oh-whying critics about last month’s Granta list of best young British novelists (sorry if you’re sick of the subject) was the absence of the Irish writers Naoise Dolan, Michael Magee and Sally Rooney. While historians probably have a better word for that kind of inclusivity, the slightly bizarre consensus could also be seen as an uncomplicated tribute to the fact that so many of the best recent novels in English have come from Ireland.
One of them was Dolan’s debut, Exciting Times, a tart comedy about a millennial Dubliner caught up in a bisexual love triangle while teaching English in Hong Kong. Her new novel, set largely in present-day Dublin, confirms her talent while giving cause for regret that she’s shed a few spikes since her first outing, although it’s hardly a shock to find the title isn’t to be taken at face value.
The couple in question are mid-to-late twentysomethings Celine, a concert pianist, and Luke, a PR guy for a global tech company. He’s a serial shagger who craves approval but doesn’t know what to do with it, while she’s independent-minded and dedicated to her art yet somehow unable to contemplate life alone. We join them just when – in a typically convincing exchange – they’ve suddenly talked themselves into getting hitched because neither can face breaking up.
