Sunburn: Exclusive American Edition with Additional Material
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, with additional exclusive content inside.
"Tackling topics of queer identity, teenage angst, and religious guilt, this romantic novel burns with the intensity and yearning of first love." — Harper's Bazaar
For fans of Normal People, a queer, coming-of-age debut of impossible first love, first loss, and first heartbreak…
It’s the early 1990’s in the small town of Crossmore, Ireland, and Lucy knows what she’s expected to do. Fall in love with the son of the farmer next door, marry him, pray for children, and never, under any circumstances reveal the truth–that she doesn’t think marriage or motherhood or staying in Crossmore is for her. That the reason she knows this, is because of her close friend, Susannah.
For years, Lucy buries her obsession, until one summer, right before graduation, when her friendship with Susannah escalates. Now, Lucy will do anything to keep their secret safe. Their relationship is both the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to her–Lucy loves Susannah, but every day, it feels like Crossmore, Lucy’s mother, and their social mores are closing in. And when Susannah decides she no longer wants to hide, Lucy must make a devastating choice.
Tender and heartbreaking, Sunburn portrays the realities of growing up in a small rural town–from the long, hot summers, to the pressures of a conservative, traditional community where everyone knows each other’s business. It’ll leave you aching for your own first love.
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Community Reviews
“It feels as though I am an island, apart from everybody else. Perhaps we are all islands, apart from each other. Perhaps everyone else feels foreign in their hometown too. Yes, perhaps we are all just islands, as wild and merciless as each other, separated by our countless defects. Perhaps there is no remedy for it, and all we can do is learn which parts of ourselves to deny and which parts to bring into the light.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I went into this book expecting to like it, and left it completely in love. It was gut-wrenching, intoxicating, devastating, and perfect. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy—a teenage girl in a small Irish village—and Susannah’s relationship. To watch two queer female characters fall in love while also trying to navigate living in an environment that is trying to push them in different directions was an intense experience…but such a beautifully-written one!
I don’t think I’ll ever have enough good things to say about this book, even when I think about Lucy and Susannah’s more frustrating and self-sabotaging moments.
I need literally everyone I know to read this book so that I can talk about it for the rest of my life. This is definitely going to be one of my top—if not THE—books of the year. I cannot wait to devour the author’s next one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Years from now, I will say that tonight was the night I knew that she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. This is about more than her body, her tanned skin, her perfect mouth. I am in love with her blood, with her smell, with intangible things that I will never hold—her laugh, her anger, her soul.“
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I went into this book expecting to like it, and left it completely in love. It was gut-wrenching, intoxicating, devastating, and perfect. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy—a teenage girl in a small Irish village—and Susannah’s relationship. To watch two queer female characters fall in love while also trying to navigate living in an environment that is trying to push them in different directions was an intense experience…but such a beautifully-written one!
I don’t think I’ll ever have enough good things to say about this book, even when I think about Lucy and Susannah’s more frustrating and self-sabotaging moments.
I need literally everyone I know to read this book so that I can talk about it for the rest of my life. This is definitely going to be one of my top—if not THE—books of the year. I cannot wait to devour the author’s next one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Years from now, I will say that tonight was the night I knew that she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. This is about more than her body, her tanned skin, her perfect mouth. I am in love with her blood, with her smell, with intangible things that I will never hold—her laugh, her anger, her soul.“
