I quite like a miserable book, with Murakami’s Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun coming to mind. So, being lured in by its stylish, sleazy-looking cover, I was surprised to learn that Rachel Connolly’s Lazy City would be quite depressing instead of erotic or purely about romance.
After Erin’s best friend dies, she feels she has no choice but to escape London, opting to cross the water and return home to Belfast. An au pair job allows her to shut out her grief and mother, whose presence is inflammatory and interactions volatile.
Lingering in her old friend’s bar, Erin meets an American academic, but also forms a secretively relationship with religion that provides her some solace.
The actual details about this book, both from the blurb and online reviews, are sparse. However, it does seem to strike the same coming of age genre that the last few titles on Book of the Week have also focused on.
Ultimately, it appears to be a book about loss and finding one’s self, whilst also navigating the modern world that has sold its young people down the river.
Leave a Reply