She is lucky when she gets nice accommodation near her place of work and, up to a point, Allegra is content. Allegra Bird likes routine and putting on a uniform everyday provides a much-needed sense of belonging. These freckles are the permanent mark that connects me to him, dot to dot, star to star, freckle to freckle’įrom a young age, Allegra had ambitions to become a member of An Garda Síochána (police force) but, on failing the application, she settled for life as a traffic warden instead. I inherited my Mam’s skin tone but Pops’ freckles. Her freckles were very important to Allegra, a part of her that linked her strongly to the one solid presence in her life, her Pops. During her formative years in boarding school, Allegra never quite fit in and she resorted to self-harm. Allegra was always aware of her father’s love for her but she had never known the love of her mother who abandoned them both following Allegra’s birth. Originally from Valentia Island off the coast of Kerry, Allegra’s father, a single parent, struggled at times to provide the necessary balance in her life, so she was sent to a boarding school. At 24 years of age, Allegra’s life has not turned out quite as she had planned. “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”Īllegra Bird is a traffic warden living in Malahide, a well-to-do suburb on the outskirts of Dublin city. It will be the 18th novel published by Cecelia Ahern and was inspired by one of many famous quotes from motivational speaker and business philosopher Jim Rohn (1930 – 2009)

Told in Allegra’s vivid, original voice, moving from modern Dublin to the fierce Atlantic coast, this is an unforgettable story of human connection, of friendship, and of growing into your own skin.įreckles by Cecelia Ahern will be published September 2nd with Harper Collins Ireland and is described as ‘the must read new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of PS, I Love You’. Now, in a quest to understand, she must find not one but five people who shape her – and who will determine her future. And if not, what does that say about her? She’s left her unconventional father and her friends behind for a bold new life in Dublin, but she’s still an outsider. The trouble is, Freckles doesn’t know if she has five people. So when a stranger tells her that everyone is the average of the five people they spend the most time with, it opens up something deep inside. But despite her nickname, Freckles has never been able to join all the dots. Allegra Bird’s arms are scattered with freckles, a gift from her beloved father.

The gift cecelia ahern summary