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Sunburn

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Sunburn

By: Chloe Michelle Howarth
Narrated by: Toni O'Rourke
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About this listen

An astute and tender portrayal of first love, adolescent anxiety and the realities of growing up in a small town where tradition holds people tightly in its grasp.

It's the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, Lucy feels out of place. Despite her fierce friendships, she's always felt this way, and the conventional path of marriage and motherhood doesn't appeal to her at all. Not even with handsome and doting Martin, her closest childhood friend. Lucy begins to make sense of herself during a long hot summer, when a spark with her school friend Susannah escalates to an all-consuming infatuation, and, very quickly, to a desperate and devastating love.

Fearful of rejection from her small and conservative community, Lucy begins living a double life, hiding the most honest parts of herself in stolen moments with Susannah. But with the end of school and the opportunity to leave Crossmore looming, Lucy must choose between two places, two people and two futures, each as terrifying as the other. Neither will be easy, but only one will offer her happiness.

An Evening Standard ‘One to Watch in 2023'

©2023 Chloe Michelle Howarth (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Romance
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That was such a beautiful depiction of how so many queer people feel, this book is so incredibly written and makes you feel hate, love, yearning, and envy.

Sunburn

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So beautifully written and read. There’s very few books I’ve read that have bought me to tears like this one.

So so beautiful

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How am I just meant to live normally after reading this heartwrenching, beautiful story?

Absolutely gorgeous

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I enjoyed this a lot! But god damn these Irish teenage lesbians are DRAMATIC. Petition for Lucy to be named the most dramatic poet of all time. Her yearning is beyond anything I’ve ever read but I love it.

The Irish accent makes any audiobook better

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Oh this book was truly lovely. So remarkably written and performed. I could hear the narrator's smile. Loved this.

Just lovely.

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I am left wondering if the picture I have of Lucy(fer) and Susannah is accurate...even tho there are no real Lucy and Susannah. Felt like a teen again, living a love I didn't have the luck to live

A slow start, but man, I couldn't stop listening

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Such an easy listen. So beautifully written. The Irish accent was just a cherry on top

Heart achingly beautiful

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I’ve never felt so much because of a book, this read was phenomenal I have preordered the next.

Life altering read

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I was in this, hanging on every word, feeling and yearning alongside the characters. Felt alllllllll the feels. One of my favourites. Beautiful.

Dramatic, emotional and romantic

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.