The Snapper (novel)

This article is about the novel. For the 1993 film made from this novel, see The Snapper (film).
The Snapper (novel)

First edition
Author Roddy Doyle
Country Ireland
Language English
Series The Barrytown Trilogy
Genre Fiction, Comedy
Publisher Secker & Warburg
Publication date
1990
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 160
ISBN 0-436-20004-X
Preceded by The Commitments
Followed by The Van

The Snapper (1990) is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle and the second novel in The Barrytown Trilogy.

The plot revolves around unmarried Sharon Rabbitte's pregnancy, and the unexpected effects this has on her conservative, working class Dublin family.

In the Rabbite household, unwed motherhood isn't the disaster it might be elsewhere. When twenty-year-old Sharon informs her father, Jimmy Sr., and mother, Veronica that she's "up the pole", they aren't thrilled, but there's no display of histrionics. After asking who the father is (and not being told), Jimmy Sr. invites his daughter out to the local pub for a drink. Sharon's friends are as interested as her family in the father's identity, but she resolutely keeps mum about the truth until an event in the neighborhood brings it into the open. It turns out that the father was her friend Yvonne's father George Burgess, who took advantage of her while she was drunk. Sharon tells everyone that it was a Spanish sailor, to avoid the embarrassment and the shame of everybody knowing. However most of the town believe the truth. She is often criticised and made fun of because of Burgess being the father. Because of the incident, Burgess runs away from home, and Sharon quits her job as a shelf stacker.

Film

The Snapper was made into a film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Tina Kellegher and Colm Meaney.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.