Sunburn

In early-1990s Crossmore, Lucy can see the future other people have arranged for her: marriage to a local boy, children and a life close to home. Her feelings for her friend Susannah point somewhere else entirely. When their friendship becomes a romance during the summer before graduation, Lucy discovers an intimacy she wants desperately to protect. Keeping it hidden, however, makes every encounter with family and neighbours feel more complicated. Susannah is less willing to accept secrecy as the price of being together. Set within the routines and scrutiny of a small Irish town, this coming-of-age novel follows a first love tested by fear, religious expectations and the possibility of choosing a different life.