The Snapper (novel)

rdf:langString The Snapper (novel)

rdf:langString First edition

rdf:langString Ireland

rdf:langString Fiction, Comedy

rdf:langString English

rdf:langString Print

rdf:langString 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. When twenty-year-old Sharon informs her father, Jimmy Sr., and mother, Veronica, about her pregnancy, they aren't thrilled but do not display of histrionics. Though they ask about the father's identity, Sharon does not tell them. Jimmy Sr. then invites Sharon out to the local pub for a drink. Sharon's friends are as interested as her family in the father's identity, but she refuses to tell them. Instead, his identity becomes common knowledge when George Burgess, the father of Sharon's friend, Yvonne, leaves his wife and claims to feel torn between her and Sharon: George is the father, the pair have had a one-night stand while drunk. Sharon tells everyone that the father was a Spanish sailor, to avoid the embarrassment and the shame of everybody knowing. However, most of the town believes the truth. She is often criticized 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.