[ About The Girl with Special Knees ]
A child who doesn’t want to live.
A mother in distress.
A beautiful sister who feels invisible.
A father who needs to keep on keeping on and avoid the fragrant Shirley Lovett at all costs.
The Redmond family is in trouble.
One day, a mysterious African doll arrives in the post, and something magical happens.
[ My Review ]
The Girl with Special Knees by Eleanor O’ Kelly-Lynch was published with Orla Kelly Publishing November 24th 2022. It is described as ‘a poignant story about family relationships, about courage, hope, and renewal . . . and the power of dreams to heal the human heart’.
To meet Eleanor O’ Kelly-Lynch is quite an invigorating and inspiring experience. The Girl with Special Knees is her debut novel and, although fiction, it is loosely based on Eleanor’s personal story. Eleanor’s daughter Lauren, now aged 30, was born with a rare genetic disorder, Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). Eleanor and her family have watched over Lauren and cared for her for years, while also maintaining a work-life balance that can only be marvelled at. Eleanor’s love for her daughter is written all over her face but her love could only do so much. Frustrated, and following a conversation with her sister, Eleanor began to imagine a world where life might be different for Lauren, where a multi-universe existed, one where Lauren could be living a more fulfilling life and, from this, The Girl with Special Knees was born.
“A few years ago, I was watching television at home on my sofa. My daughter lay next to me, curled up, self-injuring her face. Lauren was born with a rare debilitating condition. Her life was a battle. As many readers will know, it is heart-breaking to watch someone you love suffer, especially when it’s your child.
Later that evening, when Lauren had gone to bed and I voiced my despair, my sister said, ‘Maybe, inside her head or in some far-off place across the universe, she’s living another life, a wonderful life…in another dimension. Maybe there’s a parallel world and she’s having a ball.’ The thought lifted me.
I’d read about parallel universes, where time can fork off into different realities…the multiverse. Other worlds where we live different versions of ourselves. Imagine if Lauren could escape her half-life, slip through a portal, take flight, live her dreams. And so, The Girl with Special Knees was born.
Through the book, I could give her wings. She would ride a horse, eat sweets, experience friendship, danger, adventure…and I could help free her spirit – the smart, funny, courageous girl who was there all the time, just buried under the rubble of despair.
While the book is written out of my lived experience, it is a work of fiction. The story follows the other family members too, the relationships inextricably connected.“
The Girl with Special Knees is the story of Doll Redmond and her family. Doll lives with a disability that has impacted her life and the life of Sally, her mum, Dan, her dad, her sister Andi and brother Will. On the cusp of her 11th birthday Doll is angry with herself and her inability to do the most basic of daily tasks. While her family chat with her in cheery voices, trying to make her feel better about herself, Doll is all too aware of the fact that she can’t function like them. There is a clarity of thought in Doll’s chapters and you can sense her frustration like an onlooker gazing upon a world that she cannot actively participate in.
Sally and Dan are struggling as parents. This was not the life they expected. They are both exhausted and trying to stay afloat but, somewhere along the way, Sally and Dan have started to lose each other. Andi is conscious of Doll’s condition every minute of her life. Through Andi’s eyes, Doll gets all the attention and energy from Sally and Dan, leaving Andi alone and sad. As a teenager, she has her own issues. School is where Andi can get the attention she craves but it’s not necessarily the right kind of attention. Andi is confused. She loves her family, including Doll, but life is hard for Andi as she navigates the trials and tribulations of these formative years and there are days when it just all gets a little too much for her.
Will is in Africa and when a package arrives for Doll’s birthday with an African postmark, it is assumed by all that it’s a present for Doll from Will. Inside the packaging is a doll, with the following message:
‘This is Nan-Nan, your soul doll, drawing good energies into your life. Do not leave your doll unattended for long. Wrap her in a clean cloth when not in use. Nan-Nan’s necklet is made from tourmaline. It brings with it the scared gift of driving away sadness and is most powerful by moonlight. Whoever carries this soul doll is safe from his enemies, cannot drown in water, nor can any unjust sentence be passed on him, so help me…’
Doll is dismissive of this strange looking doll but, unbeknownst to her, Nan-Nan is a very unique and special doll, one that will change Doll’s life forever.
Eleanor O’ Kelly-Lynch takes her readers on a magical adventure through a sliding door into a world where Doll Redmond is a hero, a world where her disabilities are non-existent and where she can live a life that she has only ever dreamt of but never thought possible. As Doll journeys through space into another dimension, her family become more aware of their lives and the destructive paths they are embarking on. Both stories run seamlessly in parallel, allowing Doll to soar and to discover the courage that she has within herself while Sally, Dan and Andi rediscover the importance of living as a family and loving each other unconditionally again.
Eleanor has written a book that does cross genres and age-levels which makes it a very difficult book to pigeon-hole. I was definitely more drawn to the family relationships within the book and had great empathy for Sally’s character. Doll’s magical adventure is told through the eyes of a child so it does require a mental shift to get into her head but it is all seamlessly intertwined through the chapter layout and with Eleanor’s writing style.
The Girl with Special Knees is a very charming and heartening tale about a family that is splitting at the seams. With a little touch of magic their lives become enhanced, as they all find courage in the most unexpected places. With another two books on the horizon, it will be lovely to see where Doll takes the reader to next as she ventures further into new lands with all its hidden places.
“When I started out, I thought the book would be about escaping the bonds that hold us back, untangling the fallout of grief and loss. When I finished I saw then that the book was really about how courage matters, how it comes in different guises and how – if we look long and hard enough – we find it within ourselves. Looking back now, I can see that this was the lesson I had to learn – and am still learning.”
– Eleanor O’ Kelly Lynch
[ Bio ]
Eleanor O’Kelly-Lynch grew up by the sea in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. She moved to Cork at seventeen to study in UCC and has a Degree in Arts and a Higher Diploma in Education.
Throughout her career in teaching, in radio and as a business owner, she carried the dream of writing a novel.
The Girl with Special Knees is her first book with a sequel to follow.
Twitter ~ @EleanorOKLynch
Instagram ~ @eleanoroklynch
