Mr Mikey's Ladies

by Lucy McCarraher

Mr Mikey is middle-aged, gay - and sick of being a hairdresser. He married his Aussie lover's sister to gain legal residency Down Under, but then lover Bryan died and wife Dolly got knocked up on a one night stand - leaving him a gay, but far from merry, widow with a wife and child to support. His Ladies, clients of his boutique Sydney salon, sustain him with their friendship and confidences, though sometimes the salacious details of their sex lives are almost more than his refined sensibilities can take. But as he listens to their tales of love and loss, pain and pleasure, Mr Mikey decides to weave them into a musical masterpiece - his escape route to fame and fortune. "A truly remarkable, brilliantly written book. Everyone should read it, whether or not they approve!" Jo Holloway, Sunpenny Publishing "Written with her usual fluency and very funny in parts, very sexy in others... a very entertaining book." Mike Barnard, Macmillan "This is great fun - very Mama Mia! Gloriously camp in places and most entertaining with its idiosyncrasies and sheer originality." Maxine Hitchcock, Harper Collins "This reminded me just how stylish - and funny - a writer Lucy McCarraher is. It did make me laugh. I liked the clarity of the voice, the humour, the setting." Will Atkins, Macmillan New Writing

264 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2008

Reviews

[Lucy Mccarraher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy McCarraher’s latest novel, Mr Mikey’s Ladies, is not only an affectionately cynical - and very funny - look at the sex lives of midlife women, but a perceptive portrait of the character flaws, complex insecurities and emotional conundrums within differing dysfunctional relationships.

The eponymous Mr Mikey is a hairdresser - sorry, colour and styling artiste - with his own salon in Balmain, Sydney’s trendy media suburb, set up in the house he shares with his wife Dolly and toddler Baby Bry, aka The Brat. It sounds like an ideal set up, but both Michael and Dolly are desperate to get out of their marriage of inconvenience.

Poignant, melodramatic and hilarious, Mr Mikey’s Ladies is a tightly-edited, deftly-written novel that packs its pages with intrigue aplenty.

For more details about the book, visit site http://www.mrmikeysladies.com/

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Hen Lit – Australian style. A delightful read with a wonderful mix of characters which includes Mr Mikey, himself: gay hairdresser and Hollywood musical aficionado, who is mourning the death of his partner; that firm believer in the real power of ‘angels’ Mr Mikey’s wife, Dolly; Andy the gorgeous handyman and all the clients of Mikey’s salon, whose intimate secrets and tangled affairs he weaves into his very own musical ‘Mr Mikey’s Ladies.’