Available online and in your favourite bookstores now
“Vail’s subtle touches of magical realism enrich her insights about the difficulties of young womanhood without overwhelming them. This has charm to spare.” –Starred Publisher’s Weekly Review
“With vivid prose and a heroine to root for, Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here is a clever take on the ways women change shape to fit into society. Part existential study and part feminist rally cry, Alli Vail’s incisive debut is a reminder that it is never too late for a second chance at life.”
— Holly James, author of Nothing But The Truth
“In Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here, the unreal becomes real and the surreal works in a donut shop. This thought-provoking story about a woman who exhibits key signs of being dead while she struggles to find whatever it is that makes life worth living is a twisted tale about fitting in, speaking up, grief, love and obsession. Alli Vail is definitely here, and she’s a fiercely imaginative new voice in fiction.”
— Katherine Fawcett, author of The Swan Suit, The Little Washer of Sorrows
“An honest, compelling page-turner… a thought provoking read from an author with an experienced hand and an incredible depth of understanding for what women can experience in a man’s world.”
— Stella Harvey, author of Finding Callidora & Founder, Whistler Writers Festival
Her best friend is missing, her career is a disaster, she’s stuck living with her parents, and now her heart isn’t beating.
Can Brooklyn Thomas confront her past to save her present?
Summer is off to a bad start and getting worse. Brooklyn Thomas is pretty sure she’s mostly dead. She can’t feel her heart beat and she’s disappearing: her reflection keeps vanishing from mirrors. No one else seems to notice. Not her coworkers at the artisanal doughnut shop she works at after failing at her high-paying marketing job. Not her crush, whom she keeps humiliating herself in front of. Not her parents, whose basement suite she’s stuck living in now that she can’t afford rent anymore. To top it all off, she’s hallucinating stars from all her favorite TV shows who want Brooklyn to pull herself together and face the truth about what happened to her career, her best friend, and her relationship with her brother.
As her past collides with her present in painful and unexpected ways, Brooklyn must decide if she’s strong enough to confront what haunts her and get a second chance at a real life—before mostly dead turns into actually dead.
Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here explores how women contort and minimize themselves to fit the roles society and family offer them, and the serious price they pay for doing so.
Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here comes out May 21, 2024 from Post Hill Press.
Upcoming events
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Book Launch
May 21, 7-9p.m.
Join us for the official launch of Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here at Book Warehouse Main St. (4118 Main St. Vancouver). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Event is free.
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Find Your Place — an open mic night featuring Alli Vail
Join the Whistler Writers Festival for Find Your Place, an open mic night of short reading performances by local writers, and featuring author Alli Vail and her debut novel Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here. Free, Saturday, June 22 at 6 p.m. at the Whistler Public Library.
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Using Dialogue to Elevate Emotional Arcs workshop at the One Day Writing Retreat
The Whistler One Day Writing Retreat is back with a workshop from Alli Vail that delves into how to make your characters say more with less. Saturday, June 22 from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. at the Point Artist-run Centre.
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TWS Reading Series
Join Alli Vail and other local readers at Container Brewing at 1216 Franklin St. in Vancouver on Monday, June 10. This free event starts at 7 p.m.
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Armchair Books
Alli is at Armchair Books in Whistler (4205 Village Square) on July 27 from 1 to 5 p.m. Come say hi, have a bookish chat, get your copy of Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here signed, or just share what you’re reading.
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Getting A Life and Finding Your Way
Debut authors Amy Mattes (Late September) and Alli Vail (Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here) are appearing in Getting A Life and Finding Your Way, a conversation with the two novelists at the Sea to Summit Bookshop Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. RSVP for a free ticket.
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Whistler Writers Fest
Alli Vail appears at the Whistler Writers Festival (Oct. 17-20) at the Literary Cabaret Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Readings from authors set to live music from the West Coast Front.
Alli Vail is a former journalist for national and provincial award-winning community newspapers. She is a content writer and marketer for literary festivals and nonprofits, and has worked in tech, video games, and politics. She’s happy she’s no longer the only woman in work meetings. She studied creative writing at Simon Fraser University. Alli lives in Vancouver, Canada with her anxious dog (who she wrote about for The Globe and Mail) and her partner. Brooklyn Thomas Isn’t Here is her debut novel. Alli is represented by Haley Casey at Creative Media Agency.
Alli Vail
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