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Intro - Freckles Italic text is a 2021 modern and contemporary coming of-age novel, including elements of psychology, by Cecilia Ahern. The novel’s themes include identity, family and feeling alone.
Plot - Freckles is about Allegra Bird, a girl in her twenties who works as a parking warden. She is called Freckles due to her many freckles on her body that she used to connect with pens and later on sharper objects in her childhood. Her freckles remind her of her connection to her father (her “pops”) who raised her alone after her mother left them when she was born. She grew up with her pops and went to an all-girls boarding school with nuns as teachers.
Her dream was to become a garda, an Irish police officer. But ended up as a parking warden in Malahide, a suburban village outside Dublin city. She follows the same routine everyday. She wakes up, has her breakfast at the same bakery, consisting of a waffle and coffee, she meets the same people on her workday, businessman, jogger, dog-walker, and the old man with his son greeting her. She works and has her lunch at the same bench every day and continues working.
She follows this routine every day until she meets Tristan, a guy with a yellow Ferrari who becomes very frustrated when she gives him parking tickets over and over again. Out of anger he tells her “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. This sticks with her because she does not know who her five people are or if she even has five people.
During a visit to her pops she finds out that her friends from home have drifted away. Her best friend and ex-boyfriend are having a kid and their mutual friend group has dissolved. She is now left with even fewer people on her list which makes her feel even more isolated and in need of five people.
She begins writing letters to people that she thinks will help her become the best version of herself. She writes to ones in sports, politics and other different areas that inspire her. Even when Tristan tells her that he did not mean it and only said it out of anger she still can't get it out of her head.
One of these letters is addressed to her mother, who lives in the area that she is working in and is actually the reason she moved there. But Allegra is too afraid to deliver it. With Tristan’s encouragement, she mails all the letters except the one to her mother, which she tears up instead.
She tries to expand her list of five people even more with Daisy Starbucks, a popular but nice girl from her school. On social media she seems like the perfect girl, hanging out with friends, working in an international human rights organization. But in real life she struggles with drug use, does not have a real job, and her dad helps her volunteer. Allegra quickly realized that she doesn't want to be like Daisy who is not what she seemed like and crosses her off the list.
She gets into a fight with her mother about a parking ticket and her mother calls her a “ strange creepy girl” She gets hurt by this but also realizes who truly matters in her life, and lists the five people she actually spends the most time with because she doesn't get letters from the other people. She starts with Pops, Spanner (the guy in the bakery where she eats breakfast everyday who tells her about his family issues), Paddy (the guy she works with), and Tristan (who she has started to hang out with more and more).
She goes back to her mom’s salon to reconnect with her and get her hair done; her mom does not remember her but when she tells her who she is, she gets a little annoyed. However when Allegra mentions she can get a famous politician to come to her party, she gets interested. The party is coming up but the politician does not arrive and Allegra’s mother lashes out at her. Allegra tells her mother they are related, but she screams and runs away. She feels defeated but her pops arrives in Dublin to comfort her and take her home.
The novel ends with Allegra back at her hometown, joined by Tristan, Spanners, Paddy and Genevie. Surrounded by the people that really care about her, she finally feels at peace with herself and has found her place in the world with her five people.
Major Themes -
Identity is a big theme in Freckles. Allegra is struggling to find who she is and tries to find people who will make her a better person. She tries to find the best five people who can help her become the best version of herself. She finds one in politics, sports, one from her past etc. But in the end it's the five people that she hangs out with the most and it's the people that care for her that are important –– and it does not have to be her mother.
Relationships is also a theme. Allegra and her pops were left by her mother when she was born. She was raised alone by her pops and they created a strong relationship. He shaped her to become who she is, and she always feels a connection with her freckles. Allegra already knows that Pops is her number one on her list of five people. She also feels connected to her mother (by her hair, for example), although Allegra doesn’t know a lot about her and wants to get to know her and learn about her roots. Her moving to Dublin is because of her mother. So even if her mother is not in Allegra’s life, they are still connected in a way. And the list of five people is also a reminder of how important it is for Allegra to have people around her, and enjoy her relationships.
Loneliness is a theme as well: for instance when Allegra finds out that she hasn't five people on her list, she panics. She feels alone and isolated, and desperately tries to fill her list. She craves validation and to become better, and thinks that she will get that through her five random unknown people. She only has her pops who is also alone, without Allegra home, and they can relate to one another. Her loneliness ends when she is found at home, with her ops and her actual five people.
Genre and style - The genres of Freckles are Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Coming-of-age Genre, Psychological Novel, Women's Education. It's written in a first person perspective where the reader follows Allergas thoughts and actions.
Development history - In an interview https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/books/news/2021-09-26-cecelia-ahern-on-writing-freckles/ Cecilia Ahern says her inspiration for the book Freckles “was when I heard the expression: "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" as a quote from business motivational speaker Jim Rohn and it inspired my novel Freckles, which is about a character nicknamed Freckles who, after hearing the phrase, realizes that if she chooses a particular set of people then she has the ability to become whoever she wants to be.”
“I like to write about outsiders, whether it's people with an unusual skill or just an unusual state of being, like Freckles. No matter how ostracized or lonely she feels, there's a circle of healing and acceptance out there waiting, she just needs to find it.”
Publication history -
2021, United Kingdom,Harper Collins UK, ISBN:9780008194949, September 2021, ebook
2021, United Kingdom, Harper Collins, ASIN: B086JHP86X, September 2021, Kindle edition
2021, Germany, FISCHER Krüger Verlag, ISBN: 9783810530455, October 2021, Hardcover
2021, United Kingdom, HarperCollins, ISBN: 9780008194932, October 2021, Paperback
2021, United Kingdom, HarperCollins, ISBN: 9780008194925, September, Hardcover
2022, United Kingdom, HarperCollins, ISBN: 9780008194956, October, Paperback
2022, Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff, ISBN:9789024596843, January, Paperback
2022, Finland, Gummerus, ISBN: 9789512429608, June, Hardcover
2022, United Kingdom, HarperCollins, ISBN:9780008194963, July, Paperback
2021, United Kingdom, HarperCollins, ISBN:9780008195137, September, Audiobook
2021, Brasil, HarperCollins Brasil, ISBN:9786555112269, November, Portuguese Version
2022, Sweden, Bazar förlag, ISBN:9789180063128, June, Hardcover
2022, Poland, Akurat, ISBN:9788328724594, November, Paperback
2021, Germany, FISCHER E-Books, ASIN:B095KGS9CF, October, Kindle Edition
2023, Russia, Иностранка, ISBN:9785389204829, November, Kindle Edition
2021, Hungary, Athenaeum, ISBN: 9789635431090, Paperback
2021, United Kingdom, HarperCollins, ASIN:B08GQB9CNM, September, Audible audio
2021, United Kingdom, HARPER, ISBN: 9780008439347, September, paperback
2021, Germany, Argon Verlag, ISBN: 9783732419036, October, Audiobook
2023, Spain, Vergara, ASIN: 6073818238, August, Paperback
2022, Spain, Vergara, ASIN: B0BHM3N1CJ, October, Kindle edition
2022, Netherland, Luitingh Sijthoff, ISBN: 9789024596850, January, Dutch Edition
2021, Germany, FISCHER E-Books, ISBN: 9783104905594, October, Kindle Edition
2023, India, Balaji Publications, ASIN: B0CZJLGB25, January, Hardcover
Doubleday Page & Co., ASIN: B001QVHEII, Unknown Binding
Doubleday, Page & Co., ASIN: B003KCRY9A, Unknown Binding
2021, Germany, Argon Verlag GmbH, ISBN: 9783839819036, October, MP3 CD
2022, Netherlands, Luitingh Sijthoff, ISBN: 9789021032375, Audiobook
Literary significance and reception - The Irish Times recommended this book by saying “This book has everything, a moving story, absorbing characters, engaging writing, Wonderfully accomplished.”
Award and nominations - Freckles was Shortlisted for the 2021 An Post Irish Book Awards
External links https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/books/news/2021-09-26-cecelia-ahern-on-writing-freckles/ https://en.wikipedia.orgview_html.php?sq=&lang=&q=Cecelia_Ahern https://www.irishbookawards.ie/nominee/freckles/