Rachel Connolly was born in 1993 in Belfast and now lives in London. She has written for the New York Times, New York Magazine, the Guardian and many other publications. She has also featured as a guest to discuss her work on This American Life and several BBC radio programs.
Crisp, clear-eyed and witty writing that looks bravely at complicated emotions and renders them fully real. Connolly's characters and their flawed, human attempts at redemption will stay with me for a long time -- MONICA HEISEY Somehow both tightly controlled and highly spontaneous, Rachel Connolly's Lazy City is refreshingly open to the world. Frank, attentive, free of artifice or emotional contrivances, Connolly brings something new to any subject she shines her singular intelligence on -- NICOLE FLATTERY This restless, big-hearted, accomplished novel examines the delicate, elaborate fabric of communication after grief. In a voice that is skirting, comic and attentive, Lazy City embodies the traits I admire in Rachel Connolly's writing: its charisma, nervous energy and verve -- LUCIE ELVIN Absolutely LOVED IT. A coming of age novel set in Belfast and delivered in the most beautifully clear and engaging prose -- FRANKIE BOYLE Startling, propulsive and bracingly funny, Lazy City is a powerful debut by a gifted writer. Every word of it feels real and true in a way that only the most skilfully imagined fiction can. It feels like a book that needed to exist. I loved it -- MARK O'CONNELL Rachel Connolly is a bright new star in fiction. Connolly's beautifully drawn portrait of modem Belfast is fresh and quietly subversive and her prose is incisive and sharp. A must read -- ELIZA CLARK A much-anticipated novel from a sharp cultural critic with an instantly recognisable voice * * i-D Magazine * * This is a compelling and very moving novel about the aftermath of grief. Connolly captures the bewilderment, raw pain, and emotional paralysis of a young woman upended by loss. There is a quiet intensity - and an addictive quality - in the writing that slowly, cumulatively affects the reader. This is a marvellous evocation of the painful distance that exists between people and the eternal longing left in the wake of a lost loved one -- MARY COSTELLO