''Exciting Times'' is a novel by Irish author Naoise Dolan. It was released on 12 April 2020. The book is Dolan's debut novel, an intimiate exploration of a millennial teacher in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer.

Background and synopsis

Dolan began writing ''Exciting Times'' in 2017, when she was living in Hong Kong. She completed writing the novel in five months. An early excerpt was published in ''

The Stinging Fly ''The Stinging Fly'' is a literary magazine published in Ireland, featuring short stories, essays, and poetry. It publishes two issues each year. In 2005, ''The Stinging Fly'' moved into book publishing with the establishment of The Stinging Fly ...

''. The novel received critical acclaim, and was often likened to the work of

Sally Rooney Sally Rooney (born 20 February 1991) is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published three novels: '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017), '' Normal People'' (2018), and '' Beautiful World, Where Are You'' (2021). ''Normal People'' was ad ...

, a fellow

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

graduate. The novel follows a 22-year-old Dubliner, Ava, while she is teaching English in Hong Kong, and her relationships with Julian, an Oxford-educated banker, and Edith, a corporate lawyer from a wealthy Hong-Kong family.

Publication

''Exciting Times'' was published in the United Kingdom by W&N on April 12, 2020. It was released in the United States on March 16, 2021 by

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it at as a novel where "jealousy and obsession, love and

late capitalism Late capitalism, late-stage capitalism, or end-stage capitalism is a term first used in print by German economist Werner Sombart around the turn of the 20th century. In the late 2010s, the term began to be used in the United States and Canada t ...

, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege." Kirkus Reviews praised it as a "refreshingly wry and insightful debut." ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' declared, "Exciting Times, which was acquired in a seven-way bidding war, more than lives up to the hype … It teems with insight around class, race, language and sexuality. Likely to fill the Sally-Rooney-shaped hole in many readers’ lives."

Awards and prizes

''Exciting Times'' was longlisted for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published ...

and the

Desmond Elliott Prize The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK. The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative. The winner recei ...

, and shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards, Dalkey Literary Awards and Waterstones Book of the Year. Dolan was also shortlisted for the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (202 ...

Young Writer of the Year Award in 2020.

Adaptation

In May 2020 it was announced that ''Exciting Times'' had been optioned for a US television series by

Black Bear Pictures Black Bear Pictures is a media company that develops, produces and finances original content for film and television. Black Bear is based in Santa Monica, California. Since its 2011 launch, Black Bear's slate has grossed over $300,000,000 worldw ...

, and in August 2021 it was revealed that

Cooper Raiff Cooper Michael Raiff (born February 11, 1997) is an American filmmaker and actor. He has received critical acclaim for his films '' Shithouse'' (2020) and '' Cha Cha Real Smooth'' (2022). He appeared on the 2022 ''Variety'' list of directors to ...

would adapt with

Phoebe Dynevor Phoebe Harriet Dynevor (; born 17 April 1995) is an English actress. Dynevor is known for her role as Daphne, the fourth Bridgerton child, in the Netflix period drama ''Bridgerton'' (2020–present). She began her career as a child actress, ...

to star in the adaptation and act as executive producer. The series will be produced by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed t ...

References

{{authority control 2020 Irish novels