- Culture
- 09 Sep 21
Louise O'Neill reveals release date for new novel Idol
One of Ireland's most well known authors will release her new book very soon.
A new book from acclaimed Irish author Louise O'Neill will be released on May 12th, 2022.
The writer behind popular works such as Asking For It and After the Silence has announced further details for her new novel Idol.
Posting a trailer of the project to her followers, she tweeted, "Who gets to tell the story? Who do we choose to believe? Whose 'truth' is really a lie?"
The tagline on the cover bears the caption, 'Not everyone we put on a pedestal deserves to be there'.
The publisher said O'Neill's upcoming novel explores the world of online influencers and our relationship with our heroes, and asks how well we can ever really know those who we follow online, and how two memories of the same event can differ. It follows Samantha Miller, an American influencer who runs a wellness empire and whose powerful brand as a motivational speaker has won her legions of adoring fans.
Its synopsis goes on: "Her career is booming: she's just hit three million followers, her new book 'Chaste' has gone straight to the top of the bestseller lists and she's appearing at sell-out events. Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her fans, she writes an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her then-best friend, Lisa. She's never told a soul but now she's telling the world. The essay goes viral. But Lisa doesn't remember it that way at all. Her memory of that night is far darker. It's Sam's word against Lisa's—so who gets to tell the story? Whose 'truth' is really a lie?"
O'Neill recently signed a new six-figure deal with publisher Transworld for Idol, with a follow-up novel yet to be announced.
She spoke to Hot Press in 2017 about her breakout novel Asking For It, which received praise for discussing the difficult topic of sexual assault.
"When Asking For It was first published, a lot of people said, ‘You’ve started this conversation’," she said.
“I don’t think that’s true. People in Ireland were ready to have this conversation for a long time and that the work that has been going on in sexual violence centres and on the ground has paved the way for someone like me to come along.
Pre-orders are now available for Idol by Louise O'Neill here.
Watch the trailer for her new book below:
Who gets to tell the story?
Who do we choose to believe?
Whose 'truth' is really a lie? pic.twitter.com/ubx53YdgzP— Louise O' Neill (@oneilllo) September 9, 2021
