Freckles
Cecelia Ahern
WHEN ALLEGRA BIRD was a girl, she used to join up the freckles on her arms with a pen to create constellations. Now, in her twenties, she’s finding it much harder to make connections, either with other people or between the different parts of her life—although, in her defense, there are quite a lot of those. Among other things, Allegra has a beloved father back in Kerry; a current job as a parking warden in Malahide, near Dublin; a part-time career as a nude life model; a former beau who’s just made her best friend pregnant; and a desperate desire to track down the mother who abandoned her at birth.
Allegra’s quest to link up these various elements is the premise of the new novel by Cecelia Ahern: daughter of the former Irish Taoiseach Bertie and, for the past two decades, a leading figure in women’s fiction. Or, more accurately, it’s one of the premises— because, somewhat ironically in the circumstances (and a bit surprisingly for such a seasoned pro), Freckles never really succeeds in joining up all of the many things it wants to be.
There is, for example, a central love story, which takes the traditional form of a man who seemed horrible turning out to be nice. There’s also that other staple of the fiction formerly known as chick-lit: a heroine whose main flaw is that she doesn’t realize how great she is. But Ahern throws in plenty more besides—including the idea that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”: an idea that has Allegra learning to separate the glamorous but ultimately shallow Dublin types from the “real honest to goodness people” she eventually comes to treasure.
This story is from the September 2021 edition of Reader's Digest UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2021 edition of Reader's Digest UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Culinary Grandes Dames
Paola Westbeek celebrates the women who have influenced her journey in gastronomy-from Elizabeth David and Julia Child to Nigella Lawson
My Britain: Winterton-on-Sea
WITH A BEAUTIFUL BEACH on one side and the Norfolk Broads on the other, Winterton-on-Sea is a lovely little village with a big heart.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Prince Stash
From aristocratic, eccentric friend of Sixties rockstars to TikTok sensation
Steve Conte: If I Ruled The World
Steve Conte is a musician known for his memorable guitar work as a member of New York Dolls, as well as his collaborations with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno on the soundtracks to several hit anime series
My Great Escape: Rome, The Eternal City
Our reader Barbara Hull takes a Hollywood-inspired trip to Rome and reveals that some wishes really do come true
BOTANIC GARDENS OF THE WORLD
Tales of extraordinary plants, botanical history and scientific discovery
THIS BACON FAKERY MUST STOP
I WAS RECENTLY given bacon-flavoured dental floss for my birthday. My first question was: who the hell gives dental floss as a gift? My second question was: has bacon gone too far?
GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Meet the Crufts competitors who changed their owners' lives completely
HOME AT LAST!
A cat missing for ten years, a dog who disappeared during a wildfire, and more heartwarming true stories of pets who were lost then found
New Love Lexicon
Do internet terms help or hinder healthy romantic relationships?