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Eggshell
Set in 2000s Adelaide, Eggshell tells the story of Kira, a sarcastic, cynical teenager living in a council flat with her Cantonese grandmother (Apoh) and her rebellious older cousin, Jake. This novella starts and ends with Kira's experience of Year 12 where she is caught between two worlds: being a subservient Cantonese granddaughter and a Big Brother-watching, boy-crazy Australian schoolgirl. Eggshell is a young-adult novella dealing with themes of identity, racism, romance, sexuality and adolescence.
‘Eggshell really gets into the skin of a teenager grappling with adult responsibilities and caring duties. Kira’s world is completely real, her voice imbued with the urgency of a young adult trying to make sense of both her rich interior world and the often hostile exterior one. Olivia De Zilva’s voice explodes with a radiant energy, a raw and potent emotional power’ Alice Pung
'As a Chinese Australian who lived through the early 2000s, this stunning novella gave me cultural whiplash, taking me straight back to my salad days of early internet, teen fashion mags, Charlie perfume in the girl's locker rooms and rites of passages with privileged Western students! I laughed out loud at the biting humour, I wept for these flesh and bone characters and I nodded along to our shared Asian experience until my neck hurt. Olivia is an exciting new powerhouse and I will be following her career keenly.' Shirley Marr
'Delightfully raucous and rich in detail, Eggshell is packed with all the cringe, colour, heartache and hilarity of high school. De Zilva has created a cast of memorable characters that you'll fall in love with, groan at, despair for and ultimately cheer on with both fists raised.' Erin Gough
‘Eggshell really gets into the skin of a teenager grappling with adult responsibilities and caring duties. Kira’s world is completely real, her voice imbued with the urgency of a young adult trying to make sense of both her rich interior world and the often hostile exterior one. Olivia De Zilva’s voice explodes with a radiant energy, a raw and potent emotional power’ Alice Pung
'As a Chinese Australian who lived through the early 2000s, this stunning novella gave me cultural whiplash, taking me straight back to my salad days of early internet, teen fashion mags, Charlie perfume in the girl's locker rooms and rites of passages with privileged Western students! I laughed out loud at the biting humour, I wept for these flesh and bone characters and I nodded along to our shared Asian experience until my neck hurt. Olivia is an exciting new powerhouse and I will be following her career keenly.' Shirley Marr
'Delightfully raucous and rich in detail, Eggshell is packed with all the cringe, colour, heartache and hilarity of high school. De Zilva has created a cast of memorable characters that you'll fall in love with, groan at, despair for and ultimately cheer on with both fists raised.' Erin Gough
190 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 2, 2025
This book was obviously written by a millennial (lovingly)
November 30, 2025
In a room full of 100 people, and 99 don’t believe in you, all it takes is that one person.
How many people need to be in the room before that stops being true? 1 million? 1 billion?
Eggshell cements ODZ as one of Australia’s most promising young writers.
How many people need to be in the room before that stops being true? 1 million? 1 billion?
Eggshell cements ODZ as one of Australia’s most promising young writers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews