Perfect reading for fans of Sally Rooney, Nealon’s spiky yet compassionate debut charts the progress of a rural Irish girl enrolling at Trinity College, Dublin and deftly examines how our childhood experiences are ingrained upon our character.
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.
Publisher: Bonnier Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781786580702
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 611 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 35 mm
Snowflake is a beautiful novel; tender, laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply moving - Louise O’Neill
An astonishing achievement. Louise Nealon is ridiculously talented; already I'm greedy for more - Stacey Halls
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 - Roddy Doyle
GAS and beautiful and truthful and touching - Marian Keyes
An incredibly ambitious debut, beautifully written - Sam Baker
A novel for anyone who's ever felt lost in the world, Louise Nealon balances humour and tragedy in a sharp debut - John Boyne
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! - Christy Lefteri
Snowflake is raw, sharp-sighted, affirming, and also very very funny. Louise Nealon's prose shimmers as do her irregular and damaged characters. Stunning - Una Mannion
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. - Margot Livesey
Nealon balances humour and devastation well in this relatable novel. - Irish Examiner - 15 debuts to watch out for in 2021
Nealon tackles uneasy conversations around trauma and grief, sex and consent, self-delusion and the fear of what you might be capable of, deftly and with humour...a story that's sharp, clever and affecting. - The Independent
Sparks with tender charm and humour...marks the arrival of yet another striking Irish literary voice...Debbie's fresh, bleakly funny voice marks her out as original. So are her brilliant, brittle family. These are Beckett-like characters..key to this quirky novel's tender charm. - Patricia Nicol, The Sunday Times
Beautifully written...emotionally intelligent and thought-provoking...a coming-of-age story with a difference...I can't stop thinking about it. - Daily Mail
Clever, witty, wryly elegant and full of emotional truth. - Irish Independent
Brilliant...already looks set to become a serious literary star...this year's millennial narrative du jour - Harper's Bazaar
Intimate, chatty, immensely readable. There's an original and distinctive voice here, and a strong sense of character and place...Snowflake is an auspicious beginning. - Kevin Power, The Sunday Times
Filled with wonderful, believable characters...a beautiful debut from a writer unafraid to blend the contemporary with the mystic. - Sunday Business Post
Thanks so much to Bonnier for letting me read Snowflake in advance. This is a story about eighteen-year-old Debbie, who lives on a dairy farm an hour away from Dublin, with her uncle Billy and her mum Maeve.... More
A beautiful and raw depiction of mental health and growing into your own self. Snowflake was an absolute joy to read. I was immediately invested in Debbie's life, intrigued by her cosmic mother and enamored with... More
Wow. This book was just phenomenal. In all honesty, at first I thought this book would just be another run of the mill, first person female narrative following the trials and tribulations of a young woman which have... More
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