larger image »

UK RATES

Paperback
1 Pb: £3.00
Additional Pbs +£1.50/copy

Hardback
1 Hb £6.00
Additional Hbs +£4.00/copy

EUROPEAN UNION

Flat Rate:
£28.00/order

USA AND OTHER WORLD DESTINATIONS

Flat Rate:
£28.00/order

PRINT
Publication Date: 22 June 2023
Format: Paperback
Extent: 288 pp
Our Price: 11.99
ISBN: 9780857308412

DIGITAL
Publication Date:8 June 2023
Format: ebook(ePub)
Our Price: 7.99
ISBN: 9780857308429

OTHER STOCKISTS

DIGITAL

Support your local bookshop by buying through bookshop.org or hive.co.uk

Note: we earn a tiny commission on bookshop.org sales if you click through and make a purchase and a percentage of the sale also goes to support local, independent bookshops - more info »

SUNBURN

Don't miss out on our Signed Copies
Limited Availability - For UK Customers Only

** Shortlisted for the 2023 Nero Book Award for Debut Fiction **
** Shortlisted for the 2024 Book of the Year: Discover Award by the British Book Awards **
** Shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2024 **
** Longlisted for the Diverse Book Awards 2024 **
** An Evening Standard 'One to Watch in 2023' **
** An Independent 'Best Romantic Summer Reads' **
** A Book of the Month pick for Diva, Irish Examiner, Novellic & Sainsbury's Magazine **
** A Most Anticipated pick for PinkNews & Queer on the Street **

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. Neither will be easy, but only one will offer her 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. An atmospheric sapphic love story and coming-of-age novel with the intensity of Megan Nolan's Acts of Desperation, the long hot summer of André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name and the female friendships of Anna Hope's Expectation.

Sunburn - Chloe Michelle Howarth

READER REVIEWS FOR SUNBURN

'The best book I've read all year. I want to devour this book, I want to eat this book raw. Everyday I find myself thinking about this book... It has quickly become one of my favourite all time novels. This book gave me what everyone told me that 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' was supposed to give me - which I did not get from that book'

withfruitoncover, TikTok

'a beautiful, intense, and tender look at adolescence, love and sexuality.'

S.H, NetGalley

'This truly is one of the best works of literature I've ever read. Howarth is a writer of unparalleled talent'

L.Buerger, NegGalley

'A beautifully queer, Irish, coming-of-age story that will ring through for many no matter their age'

A.Cody, NetGalley

'Sunburn is a beautiful, intense, and tender look at adolescence, love and sexuality. It is gorgeous and so stunning, I loved the writing and the characters are really well developed. The story is easy to follow and as easy to lose yourself in. A truly phenomenal coming of age story'

Suzannah H, NetGalley

And More Reader Reviews >

I don't think anybody else should bother writing coming-of-age novels, this is the only one you'll ever need

Naseerah L, NetGalley

It was so honest and relatable that it was like reading my own thoughts

Vicki W, NetGalley

This book comments on so much but never spreads itself thin. It's such a perfect portrayal of what teenagehood feels like as a girl, of what falling in love for the first time feels like

Ocean, NetGalley

It is one of the most beautiful coming of age novels I’ve ever read. I’ll remember it a long time.

Laura M-G, NetGalley

This coming of age story really captured me

Andrew C, NetGalley

This was an amazingly written and sensitive portrayal of queer first love, teenage anxieties and growing into a young adult all while feeling out of place in an area you're slowly but surely outgrowing... I can definitely see why this has been selected as 'one to watch in 2023'— I'm not exaggerating when I say this is without a doubt one of my favourite books I've read so far this year

Jessica G-B, NetGalley

This is definitely a book I recommend and think is going to do really well in its genre

Rachel A, NetGalley

I enjoyed this book

Ch4z, NetGalley

I love a self awareness in a protagonist and this book has it in spades.

Laura Jayne B, NetGalley

The prose in this book is some of the best I've ever read - it's lyrical and evocative. Every page is so full of rich descriptions that make you feel like you are there with the characters.

Ebony D, NetGalley

Wow what a read!… I was up all night reading this…

Meire A, NetGalley

Howarth almost perfectly distills the anxiety and self-loathing that young queer people experience when growing up in a community they know will reject their true identity ... Definitely would recommend!

Emma A, NetGalley

I don’t think anybody else should bother writing coming-of-age novels, Sunburn is the only one you’ll ever need to read. This was absolutely devastating and I loved every second of it. I couldn’t believe this was a debut. Howarth’s prose is so lyrical and immersive and I can’t wait to read more of her works. An absolute must-read

Naseerah Limbada, Goodreads

It has beautiful, poetic writing and one of the best first pages I've ever read. I'm not usually one for romance type books but this was wonderful and beautiful and one I'll be thinking about and recommending for a while.

Georgia Greaves, Instagram

Chloe Michelle Howarth perfectly encapsulates what it is to fall in love, and how our boundaries can only be broken if we are brave enough to break them down.

Louise Morrish, NetGalley

There is just something so atmospheric and evocative in Howarth’s novel that I really was drawn in from the first chapter...written with such aching longing that falls off of the page it is easily one of my favourite reads for this year. Loved it

Lauren Eve, Net Galley

A truly beautiful debut that had me in its grip from the very first page. The writing is beautiful and the characters felt very real, almost jumping off the page. Perfect for everyone looking for a queer coming-of-age story.

Ace Leo, Net Galley

his was such a fantastic debut. i really enjoyed reading this book and loved following the story of lucy. watching her go from having her life with martin planned to her first interaction with susannah and their relationship together was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.

this novel deals with the importance of relationships and how delicate they can be - especially a mother and daughter relationship. i cried many times when seeing the relationship that lucy had with her mother - it was so heartbreaking and i truly hated her mother.

my heart really goes out for lucy; she has to make some horribly painful decisions over her life. she wanted to fit in and be the person that others wanted her to be rather than who she wanted to be. i loved seeing her grow and feel more and more comfortable with herself and her identity.

this book was written beautifully. thank you so much for writing this book. it was so heartbreaking and endearing.

Partridge Pages, Net Galley

A real heartbreaking, empathy evoking, deep insight into a troubled teenage mind... I recommend this to those that enjoy a love story, and a read that is packed with emotion

K. Shaw, Netgalley

This book was the most beautiful I have ever read. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It was incredibly beautiful so perfect if you're looking for a book regarding coming-of-age, and coming to know and understand your own sexuality, you simply must read it

Constance V, NetGalley

With an engaging plot and characters, and wonderfully written, Sunburn is a joy to read. I encourage anyone who’s looking for a new queer coming-of-age tale to pick this one up!

Darcey L, NetGalley

PRESS REVIEWS FOR Sunburn

'A tender and heartfelt coming-of-age tale'
- Heat

'An all-encompassing queer coming-of-age romance that you won't be able to put down... While it's not necessarily a 'holiday' romance in the strictest sense, it does primarily take place over one sticky summer - the sort of endless, defining one that only occurs in your teenagehood - which gives it that divine holiday flavour'
- Vogue, 8 of The Best Holiday Romance Books To Enjoy In The Sun

[read the full review]

'True to its name, reading this book made me feel warm and lightly seared... It's an ode to the insufferability of youth, being yet to develop the concept of other peoples' feelings, and how painful and messy first love can be'
- Dazed magazine

[read the full review]

'A deeply moving, heartfelt love story'
- Daily Mail

[read the full review]

And More Reviews >

'A tender evocation of that time between adolescence and early adulthood and the accompanying rites of passage'
- Irish Times

[read the full review]

'Plenty of novelists have attempted to capture the euphoria and insanity of first love, but few as engrossingly as Chloe Michelle Howarth. Queer readers especially will relate to all the knotty, complex and exciting yet anxiety-laden feelings'
- Vogue

[read the full review]

'A heartcrushing novel about first queer love'
- August Ponthier

'This is a compassionate take on the push and pull between what's expected and what is felt. '
- The Herald

[read the full review]

Another day, another new Irish writer to discover. Chloe Michelle Howarth is still in her twenties but her debut Sunburn, a coming-of-age novel set in small town Ireland has already been attracting some attention. This is a compassionate take on the push and pull between what's expected and what is felt.

The Herald

'A tender coming-of-age novel and a heartfelt sapphic love story'
- ELLE Canada

[read the full review]

'Part coming-of-age tale, part devastating romance, you need to pick up a copy of Sunburn stat'
- Cosmopolitan

[read the full review]

'Wow, this book truly blew me away... heart-wrenching. Another incredible debut that I'll be thinking about for a very long time'
- Mirror

[read the full review]

'Lucy tells her story in a true, compelling voice, with an eye for minutiae, quaint apercus, and confidences that make her account moving and convincing'
- SAGA Magazine

[read the full review]

Another tale of teen infatuation and adolescent angst... In a scorching summer, in the stifling atmosphere of an Irish village, 15-year-old Lucy loses her heart to school friend Susannah. How much easier if she could love her best pal, Martin. Over six years, Lucy tells her story in a true, compelling voice, with an eye for minutiae, quaint apercus, and confidences that make her account moving and convincing.

SAGA Magazine

'Tender and poignant... [Sunburn] is ideal reading for the last month of summer '
- Diva (Book of The Month)

'A literary coming-of age that captures the similar minutiae of romance as Normal People, and the gorgeous poetic descriptions of Call Me By Your Name... Whether you're looking for a great beach read, something for your book club, or a queer romance, Sunburn is a book you need to get on your shelves'
- Turnaround (Book of the Month)

[read the full review]

'Capturing all the intensity of first love, blended with the claustraphobia of small-town life, this debut, inspired by real experience, is tender and raw'
- The Bookseller

[read the full review]

'A beautiful coming of age love novel written with an insightful poetical prose, rich with religious allegory and texture which underscores the transformative, spiritual power of first love explored'
- Scene, Scene Magazine

[read the full review]

'The hottest book of the summer'
- Publishing Post

'This is an often gut-wrenching divulgence into a complex queer story that, though it is not light-hearted, painstakingly captures the realities of queerness in 1990s small-town Ireland.'
- S. Joy, The Gay Saint

[read the full review]

'Intense and all-consuming - like the first love it describes - Sunburn transported me to the heart of summer and the heady days of late adolescence. I won't soon forget Chloe Michelle Howarth's addictive, lushly written debut'
- Laura Sims, author of Looker,