With my lazy eye - Julia Kelly

With My Lazy Eye is the story of Lucy. Lucy's a misfit. She's growing up in a large family in a semi-detached house, dreaming of being someone else and making her father proud. It's not looking promising.He's an internationally renowned academic and her siblings are bright achievers, but Lucy is lazy, directionless and never quite manages to succeed. Perhaps that's because she's not really trying. She hasn't got the energy to revise for exams, she can't convince herself to care about coming last and even when she goes to London and finds the perfect job, she is still destined to fail. And as far as men are concerned, Lucy tumbles into bed with one after another, never finding any she can find real affection for. It seems she's going nowhere - fast.Finally, Lucy is going to grow up and choose her own life, but when a family crisis looms, it might just be too late.

Julia Kelly was born in 1969, studied English, Sociology and Journalism in Dublin, and escaped to London for the mad, bad years of life. Her first novel, With My Lazy Eye, won her the Sunday IndependentBest Irish Newcomer of the Year Award. She now lives in Bray, County Wicklow with her partner and their little girl.

Julia Kelly's is surely the freshest voice in Irish fiction since the wonderful early novels of Edna O'Brien. This is a future to watch - John Banville

A page-turner. Kelly's acute observations about adolescence ring true, the reader will laugh.This is a stunning debut - Irish Examiner

This debut novel is chock-full of humour and detailed observations - OK.