Sunburn

Paperback Published on: 22/06/2023
Price: £11.99
Free UK delivery on orders over £25, otherwise £3.99
In stock
Usually dispatched within 1-2 days
Make and edit your lists in your account
Check click & collect stock near you
Collect today: Pay in shop
In stock
Usually dispatched within 1-2 days
Check click & collect stock near you
Collect today: Pay in shop

Bookseller Reviews

View all
Sunburn
Beautifully written.
This book deserves to become a classic of LGBTQIA+ fiction. I feelthis is a story that will resonate with a lot of people which makes this book a must read... READ MORE
Bookmouse, Newry
Sunburn
Unbelievable Debut
Wow, this was such an incredible read - I really couldn’t believe this was a debut. The writing was so confident and just beautifully written. This had to ... READ MORE
Leigh  Boyle
Sunburn
Perfectly expresses the heartbreak of forbidden love
Sunburn is a debut novel by Chloe Michelle Howarth, and what a gem it is. The setting and characters are vividly described with depth and skill. I was ... READ MORE
Libby at  Waterstones Craigavon
Sunburn
all-consuming
OHHH MY GOD MAN. Completely heart-wrenching, devastating, all-consuming. This portrayal of queer love in a hostile environment, teenage friendship and comi... READ MORE
Benny at Barnet
Sunburn
The perfect summer novel
I loved this story and I feel like it captured really well what it means to be a female in her teenage years coming to grips with her identity and trying t... READ MORE
Libby Low
Sunburn
Mesmerising
Words can hardly describe the way I feel about this book oh my god. The writing is so precise and cutting yet so tender. I will think about Lucy and Susann... READ MORE
Mason at Oxford
Sunburn
stunning novel
beautiful LGBT story, emotional and stomach churning
Amy McGinily
Sunburn
A beautiful, moving, and unforgettable read.
Sunburn is a stunning exploration of first love and identity, set against the backdrop of a little village where it seems impossible to be who you are. It... READ MORE
Liberty at Richmond
Sunburn
Beautifully dizzying and devastating…
I adored Sunburn — the story was beautiful and written so perfectly to encapsulate the mid-90s in rural Ireland, and Lucy’s struggle amidst religion and pa... READ MORE
Olivia at Newcastle
Sunburn
A modern LGBTQ classic!
This is hands down the best sapphic book I have read. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I have not stopped thinking about it. This book is a coming... READ MORE
Phil
Sunburn
A future sapphic classic
Brilliantly written and magnificently compelling; I was engrossed in the first few pages and finished it in a matter of hours. Lucy is just one of the G... READ MORE
Izzi

Synopsis

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. But only one can offer her real happiness. Sunburn is 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.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Verve Books
  • ISBN: 9780857308412
  • Number of pages: 288
  • Dimensions: 198 x 129 mm
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

View all
Sunburn
Haunting and Achingly Gorgeous
I’ve never read a book that so accurately portrays my own experiences of growing up queer in a small village! Every line was like a sucker punch. Absolutel... READ MORE
Rachel Chandler
Sunburn
A pitch perfect sapphic coming of age read
It’s the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, teenage Lucy feels a sense of nonbelonging; sure, outwardly, she does what she thinks she shou... READ MORE
Georgina (ReadsEatsExplores)
Sunburn
Beautiful
Love love love this book x
Reanne Harris
Sunburn
Breathtaking
This book embodies the true feelings of love. The pain, the pleasures, but most importantly the beauty. This books is so well written it’s amazing. I deffo... READ MORE
Grace Hinchcliffe
Sunburn
Best coming of age I’ve read
This was like reading the diary of a love-struck girl, so personal and raw. It was beautifully poetic, an emotional outpouring of adoration for another per... READ MORE
Kayleigh  Panton
Sunburn
The beauty and the beast that is teenage love…
A fabulous debut that depicts all the joys and desperation of young love. Narrated by the main protagonist, Lucy, we follow her story from the summer of 19... READ MORE
Caz Stevens
Sunburn
Thoughtful and Intelligent
This is an intelligent and thoughtful novel about what it is like hiding in the closet in Ireland around the time of the decriminalisation of homosexuality... READ MORE
Eve Webster
Sunburn
My favourite book of all time.
I’ve never read anything like it. It’s a book I can’t stop recommending. So poetic, so tragic, so romantic.
Panashe - Gwyneth Mushandu