Our book group choice for May 2021 is Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. Ava moved to Hong Kong to find happiness, but so far, it isn’t working out. Since she left Dublin, she’s been spending her days teaching English to rich children — she’s been assigned the grammar classes because she lacks warmth — and her nights avoiding petulant roommates in her cramped apartment.
Exciting Times is a 2020 novel by Irish author Naoise Dolan. The novel follows Ava, a 22-year-old Irish woman who moves to Hong Kong to teach English. She soon becomes involved in a love triangle with Julian, a wealthy British banker, and Edith, a Hong Kong-born lawyer.
Ava is a complex and intelligent character. She is fiercely independent and fiercely intelligent, but she is also deeply insecure. She is constantly questioning her own worth and her place in the world. She is also deeply ambivalent about love and relationships. She sees them as a kind of transaction, a way to get what she wants out of life.
Julian is a charming and wealthy banker. He is everything that Ava is not: confident, successful, and well-connected. He is also very controlling. He likes to have Ava all to himself, and he doesn’t like her spending time with other people.
Edith is a beautiful and ambitious lawyer. She is everything that Ava wants to be: successful, confident, and independent. She is also very kind and compassionate. She is the first person to really see Ava for who she is, and she is the first person to make Ava feel truly loved.
As the novel progresses, Ava is forced to make a choice between Julian and Edith. She can either stay with Julian, who provides her with financial security and a comfortable lifestyle, or she can choose Edith, who offers her love, companionship, and a chance to be herself.
The novel ends with Ava making a decision, but the reader is left to wonder whether she made the right choice. Dolan does not offer any easy answers, and she leaves the reader to grapple with the complex questions of love, relationships, and identity.
Here are some additional details about the novel:
- The novel is set in Hong Kong, which provides a fascinating backdrop for the story. The city is a place of great wealth and inequality, and Dolan explores the ways in which these factors play out in the lives of her characters.
- The novel is told from Ava’s point of view, which allows the reader to get inside her head and understand her thoughts and feelings. Ava is a complex and contradictory character, and Dolan does a masterful job of portraying her inner turmoil.
- The novel explores the themes of love, class, and power in a nuanced and thought-provoking way. Dolan does not offer easy answers, but she does provide the reader with a lot to think about.
Discussion Questions for Exciting Times
- How did you feel about the way the book was written, in first person narration? Did that impact how you felt about the narrator?
- Title – Exciting Times – what do you think this alludes to?
- Grammar – what do you think the author was trying to do with the constant grammatical references?
- Social media – did the constant references to social media help or hinder the narrative?
- Class, nationality and money – what do you think the book is trying to say?
- Why is it set in Hong Kong? Does the (white Irish) author make best use of the location?
- Did you like the characters? Is it the type of book where that matters?
- Did the ending work?
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