SKIN

New
Hardcover
2019
$18.59

This pertinent, timely, intelligent and incredibly compelling exploration of the relationship we have with our own bodies opens in Bali. Natalie, its protagonist, is uncomfortable in her own skin. Her most recent relationship is long since over and she's become disillusioned with her career as a teacher - adopting a tried-and-tested attempt at self-discovery, she packs her bags to go travelling.
Natalie travels to Bali, New Zealand, Australia, Dublin, rural Ireland and the Netherlands to try and find her place, but her isolation abroad only heightens her sense of unease. Her journey is psychological as well as physical - she is obsessed with her shape, believing herself to be awkward and over-large, recoiling from relationships with men and eating compulsively as a self-destructive reaction to her issues with her weight.
As the narrative unfolds, we gradually become award of a crucial development in Natalie beginning to take place. This novel engages powerfully with issues that are important to women, and also to people in general, via an incredibly beguiling protagonist - she is intelligent and self-aware, sharp and acute, and able to see the comic side of her predicament. An intensely enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

Synopsis

This pertinent, timely, intelligent and incredibly compelling exploration of the relationship we have with our own bodies opens in Bali. Natalie, its protagonist, is uncomfortable in her own skin. Her most recent relationship is long since over and she's become disillusioned with her career as a teacher - adopting a tried-and-tested attempt at self-discovery, she packs her bags to go travelling.

Natalie travels to Bali, New Zealand, Australia, Dublin, rural Ireland and the Netherlands to try and find her place, but her isolation abroad only heightens her sense of unease. Her journey is psychological as well as physical - she is obsessed with her shape, believing herself to be awkward and over-large, recoiling from relationships with men and eating compulsively as a self-destructive reaction to her issues with her weight.

As the narrative unfolds, we gradually become award of a crucial development in Natalie beginning to take place. This novel engages powerfully with issues that are important to women, and also to people in general, via an incredibly beguiling protagonist - she is intelligent and self-aware, sharp and acute, and able to see the comic side of her predicament. An intensely enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

$18.59

Quantity

Temporarily out of stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Publisher: Apollo
Published: 01 Aug 2019
ISBN 10: 1789540941
ISBN 13: 9781789540949
Book Overview:

SKIN is an honest, self-aware, at times funny story, of a young woman who is deeply uncomfortable in her own skin. Self-loathing and ill-at-ease with herself and her place in the world, through her encounters and experiences overseas she metamorphoses into a more confident, assured individual.

Media Reviews

PRAISE FOR RED DIRT:
'As accomplished a debut as you'll find' Sunday Independent.
'A confident and distinctive debut, and one would have to be dead to the thrill of fiction not to be hugely excited about what its author will do next' Irish Independent.
'A thought-provoking, vibrant novel ... Highly impressive writing from a first-time novelist, a story that moves from humour to poignancy with ease' Irish Times.

Author Bio

Elizabeth Reapy is an Irish author and tutor. She is currently a Dublin UNESCO City of Literature Writer-In-Residence.