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London, 2019. It’s the hottest June on record and the weekend is about to begin…
Maggie is 30, pregnant and broke. Faced with a future in the home town she once fought to escape, she’s beginning to wonder if having a baby will be last spontaneous act of her life.
Ed, a bike courier, can’t wait to settle down with Maggie. But she doesn’t know that he has a secret history with Maggie’s best friend Phil.
Phil hates his office job and is living for the weekend, whilst falling for his housemate, Keith. But there’s a problem: Keith already has a boyfriend, and they’re about to be evicted from their warehouse commune anyway.
Then there’s Rosaleen, Phil’s mother. She’s just been diagnosed with cancer and is travelling to London to tell Phil, if she can ever get hold of him.
As Saturday night approaches, each of their lives look set to change forever. Taking place over two blisteringly hot days in the feverish capital, this is an addictive drama, painfully relatable to anyone living for the evenings and weekends.
Author: Oisin McKenna
Trade paperback Published 1 May 2024 304 page
Read and Recommended by Graeme:
"This debut novel provides a sweeping panorama of 30-something Londoners, many of who are queer, over one sweltering weekend in 2019. The setting of London is vividly and lovingly described, yet the struggle it evokes is also tellingly detailed as many of the characters can barely afford to be living in central London. The main characters are Maggie and her best friend from school days Phil, and from there we meet their partners, lovers, siblings, parents, and friends. Several of these characters are harbouring major secrets from those close to them. Towards the climax of the novel, these begin to spill out and in the case of Maggie’s boyfriend Ed this is revealed in a particularly ingenious way. Phil’s mother Rosalyn also has life-changing news which she finds difficult to share and her storyline is movingly unfolded and is the most affecting of the entire novel. However, the sweep of the book means that the reader is also privy to the perspective of the secondary characters and occasionally some minor characters. Perhaps one of these more interesting interludes is when we hear from Louis, who is the longtime boyfriend of Keith, who Phil has sex with and has developed feelings for. Yet both Phil and Keith have difficulty articulating what they mean to one another."