Ces longs to be a tattoo artist and embroider skin with beautiful images. But for now she’s just trying to reach adulthood without falling apart.
Powerful, poetic and disturbing, Needlework is a girl’s mediation on her efforts to maintain her bodily and spiritual integrity in the face of abuse, violation and neglect.
Living with a negligent mother and reeling from years of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, Ces is struggling to make sense of the world and her place in it. Her drive to become a tattoo artist is one of the few aspects of her life in which she is free to express herself openly in a society where sexual abuse is still often unspoken. In this story, through her fascination with tattooing Ces chooses ways to reclaim her body and mark it in her own way, rather than living with the scars that have been inflicted on her by abuser.
A powerful and memorable read, Deirdre Sullivan is a truly unique voice in the Young Adult genre.
Needlework is available at Charlie Byrne’s for €10. For more information or to reserve a copy, simply contact us.