Snowflake by Louise Nealon
Eighteen-year-old Debbie was raised on her family’s rural dairy farm, forty minutes and a world away from Dublin. She lives with her mother, Maeve, a skittish woman who takes to her bed for days on end, claims not to know who Debbie’s father is, and believes her dreams are prophecies. Rounding out their small family is Maeve’s brother Billy, who lives in a caravan behind their house, drinks too much, and likes to impersonate famous dead writers online. Though they may have their quirks, the Whites’ fierce love for one another is never in doubt.
This coming of age story follows Debbie as she heads off to University in Dublin and discovers that life in the big city is much more complicated than she expected and not all it’s cracked up to be. Not that life at home is any easier (far from it) as Maeve’s and Billy’s personal demons threaten to spiral out of control and change life forever.
An impressive debut that competently addresses the silence and shame of depression.
