Wunderland: A Novel
Wunderland: A Novel
by Caitríona Lally
Keenly anticipated second novel from the Rooney Prize-winning author of Eggshells
Paperback | ISBN: 9781848408050 | 272pp | Release Date: September 24th 2021
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Exiled from Ireland under dubious circumstances, Roy now works as a cleaner at the Wunderland miniature exhibition in Hamburg. Struggling to connect with those around him, he commits secret acts of violence against the tiny scenes and figurines on display. Then, to Roy’s palpable annoyance, his sister Gert visits, determined to uncover what really prompted his sudden move abroad and carrying a threadbare hope that she might finally figure him out. But Gert is fighting her own demons, having checked out of her exhausting family life where she is fading amidst her husband’s deepening depression. All the while, unbeknownst to her, Roy is planning something huge in this miniature world, a statement, an act of great destruction that might just be the best thing that ever happens to them.
Atmospheric, humorous and ultimately uplifting, Wunderland is a brilliantly wrought dual character study that sensitively wrestles family and mental health, identity and the erasure of self.
Praise for Wunderland
“They say that the voice is dead in modern literature, that one good author’s voice sounds just like another. Caitríona Lally’s work makes a lie of that. She delights in language and in bringing multifaceted, believable characters and their complicated relationships to the page. If what you’re after is an accessible, funny and real read, pick this book.”
“Caitríona Lally’s absorbing Wunderland is an insightful sibling study”
“Eccentric and ambitious ... wonderful.”
“They’d break your heart, Roy and Gert. They will break your heart.”
“My novel of the year!”
“A novel of huge invention from a seriously funny writer.”
CAITRÍONA LALLY is the recipient of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature (2018) and a Lannan Fellowship for Fiction (2019). Her first novel, Eggshells, was published in the US by Melville House (2017) and in the UK by Borough Press (2018). Caitríona lives in Dublin and divides her time between her young children, writing and working in the housekeeping department at Trinity College Dublin. Wunderland is her second novel.
“Writing Wunderland was a chance for me to indulge my obsessions with trains and all things miniature, and to explore two characters coming at life from very different perspectives. Setting the novel in Hamburg meant I had a good excuse to visit the Miniatur Wunderland model railway exhibition multiple times, for ‘research’ purposes . . .”
Gratefully supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.
Praise for Eggshells:
“Inventive, funny and, ultimately, rather moving.”
“Highly original, Lally has a unique voice as a writer.”
“Wildly Funny.”
