Ireland, 1984. After Shell’s mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning, and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, who is charming, eloquent and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the center of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.

Related: Europe, Historical Fiction, Ireland, Romance, Young Adult (ages 14-18)

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• ISBN: 9780385751087
• Author: Dowd, Siobhan
• Published: 2007, David Fickling Books
• Themes: addiction, Death, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Pregnancy
• Descriptors: Europe, Historical Fiction, Ireland, Romance, Young Adult (ages 14-18)
• No. of pages: 320