Tin House
$17.99
226 pages
In the spring of 2024 Fiona Warnick published her debut coming-of-age fiction novel The Skunks at the publishing house Tin House. The Skunks follows the main character, Isabel, who recently completed her undergraduate degree from college. That summer Isabel house sits for a family while she tries to figure out her future and life plans. A once boy-obsessed Isabel finds herself trying to preoccupy herself and her thoughts with a part time job, friends, and three baby skunks as she thinks through what she wants to do in her future.
Fiona Warnick uses a writing technique similar to that of author Sally Rooney. In her novels such as Normal People and Conversations with Friends, Rooney neglects to use quotation marks around dialogue. When I read Rooney’s novel Normal People I found the absence of quotations around dialogue a bit frustrating—however, when Warnick did not use the quotations around dialogue I was not annoyed or frustrated; in fact, I didn’t even notice that there weren’t any to begin with. Short chapters and passages mixed with Warnick’s writing and descriptions, with one sentence that easily flows to the next, creates the perfect structure for a story, one that does not even need quotation marks around the dialogue.
One thing that Fiona Warnick does beautifully and effectively is put the reader right into the story alongside the characters. Warnick is able to fully immerse the reader into the story she is creating so over the course of the book Isabel either becomes either more relatable to the reader or becomes a friend. Warnick opens the first chapter of the novel with, “The first time I saw the skunks, it was a Wednesday morning. I was taking the trash out. The sun was up, but the pavement under my bare feet was cold from the night.” Fiona manages to immediately throw the reader into the novel with her imagery. From the first chapter of her novel Warnick is able to captivate her audience and prepare them for what is to come throughout the rest of her novel.
As someone who is soon to be graduating from undergrad, I found myself particularly relating to the story Warnick created. With only uncertainties looming around every possible corner in my life, it was like a breath of fresh air to read about someone else, even if they were a fictional character, going through the same challenges and hardships in their lives.
Fiona Warnick’s novel The Skunks is a perfect read for anyone who is feeling lost, alone, or maybe even stuck in their lives. Even if you are older than the main character Isabel you can still be able to relate to the story, because everyone at some point in their lives has gone through a time where they don’t know what is coming next in their lives. Whether you’re in between school years, between school and work, or job to job, someday somewhere you will find yourself stuck and trying to fill every thought and void in your mind with a distraction. No matter who you are, where you are, or where life is leading you, you will be able to find a little piece of yourself in Isabel—or the skunks themselves.
Meet the blogger:
EMILY MILES was part of the Fall 2024 Runestone class.
