Snowflake
Winner of Newcomer of the Year
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Snowflake
Narrated by:
Louisa Harland
Buy Now for £12.81
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Narrated by:
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Louisa Harland
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By:
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Louise Nealon
WINNER NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2021 AT THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS
'Wonderful and mad' Roddy Doyle
'Sparks with tender charm and humour . . . Fresh, bleakly funny' Sunday Times
'Tender, laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving' Louise O'Neill
'GAS and beautiful and truthful and touching' Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups
'A novel for anyone who's ever felt lost in the world' John Boyne, author of The Heart's Invisible Furies
'Sharp, clever and affecting' The Independent
'Beautifully written . . . emotionally intelligent and thought-provoking' Daily Mail
'Astonishing' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars
Debbie's brain isn't perfect. Debbie's thoughts aren't unique. Debbie's dreams are all too real.
Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself and her small life. But if the Whites are mad, they are also fiercely loving, and each other's true place of safety.
Startling, fresh and utterly unique, Snowflake is a story of messy families, messier friendships and how new chapters often mean starting right back at the beginning.
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME PICK WINNER OF SUNDAY INDEPENDENT NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2021, AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS
'Wonderful' Roddy Doyle
'Sparks with tender charm and humour . . . Fresh, bleakly funny' Sunday Times
'Sharp, clever and affecting' The Independent
'Beautifully written . . . emotionally intelligent and thought-provoking' Daily Mail
'GAS and beautiful and truthful and touching' Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups
'A novel for anyone who's ever felt lost in the world' John Boyne, author of The Heart's Invisible Furies
'Astonishing' Stacey Halls, author of The Familiars
Eighteen-year-old Debbie White lives on a dairy farm with her mother, Maeve, and her uncle, Billy. Billy sleeps out in a caravan in the garden with a bottle of whiskey and the stars overhead for company. Maeve spends her days recording her dreams, which she believes to be prophecies.
This world is Debbie's normal, but she is about to step into life as a student at Trinity College in Dublin. As she navigates between sophisticated new friends and the family bubble, things begin to unravel. Maeve's eccentricity tilts into something darker, while Billy's drinking gets worse. Debbie struggles to cope with the weirdest, most difficult parts of herself, her family and her small life. But the fierce love of the White family is never in doubt, and Debbie discovers that even the oddest of families are places of safety.
A startling, honest, laugh and cry novel about growing up and leaving home, only to find that you've taken it with you, Snowflake is a novel for a generation, and for everyone who's taken those first, terrifying steps towards adulthood.
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Critic reviews
Snowflake is a beautiful novel; tender, laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply moving
An astonishing achievement. Louise Nealon is ridiculously talented; already I'm greedy for more
Mad and wonderful. I thought I was reading one thing, then discovered - several times as I read - that I was reading a different, even better thing
GAS and beautiful and truthful and touching
An incredibly ambitious debut, beautifully written
A novel for anyone who's ever felt lost in the world, Louise Nealon balances humour and tragedy in a sharp debut
It's a long time since I've loved a novel as much as Snowflake. The prose shines with observations about life love family mental health, milking the cows and what it means to be coming of age in the times we live in - I felt I had discovered a diamond - a real treasure!
Snowflake is raw, sharp-sighted, affirming, and also very very funny. Louise Nealon's prose shimmers as do her irregular and damaged characters. Stunning
Can a young woman be innocent yet outrageous, longing to succeed at university yet close to failing, deeply embarrassed by her manic depressive mother yet devoted? Yes, yes, yes. Louise Nealon's beguiling narrator Debbie is all these things, and much more. Snowflake is a wonderfully inventive, deeply felt novel full of the best kinds of surprises.
Nealon balances humour and devastation well in this relatable novel.
Brilliant
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Not perfect, but great
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very real..just loved it..true to life.deals so well with mental health issues
addictive.
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Beautifully written. Superb narration.
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Incredible narration and a good story
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