'A cracker' Patrick McCabe
'An irresistible comedy' Luke Kennard
Laura Cassidy is going all the way. Hollywood. Starry lights. The Walk of Fame. It's her destiny. At least, that's what her movie-obsessed father used to tell her. That was always the plan.
Sure, it's been a bit slow-going, but the stars have finally aligned. The long-awaited new theatre is about to open, and their first production calls for a particularly fiery female lead. This part has Laura's name on it.
There's her meddlesome older sister to get past - freshly returned from saving the world. Her occasional lover and stand-in leading man seems to think it's all a waste of time. And probably best not to mention the audition to her mother, especially after what happened last time . . . Laura just has to stay one step ahead of them all.
Channelling the era of Hollywood's silver screen and told in a voice that blends devil humour, quiet mayhem, and a singled-minded optimism that might just lead to disaster, Laura Cassidy's Walk of Fame tells the story of a troubled soul desperate to find her place in life.
'McMonagle is back with a magical cracker, a new novel glistening as its historic sobriquet, ghosting the threadbare auditoria of the world.' Patrick McCabe, author of The Butcher Boy
'An irresistible comedy of delusion and hope against self-sabotaging hope . . . Compulsively readable, painfully funny.' Luke Kennard, author of The Transition
'A wonderful observation of love and loss, the over-whelming voice of unfulfilled dreams, and brilliantly excavates the trauma of grief we carry.' Elaine Feeney, author of As You Were
'Alan McMonagle's comic prose is entirely his own and told with an unerring musicality.' Paul Lynch, author of Grace
'Heartbreaking, warm, funny, relevant and insightful.' Lisa Harding, author of Harvesting
The picture McMonagle frames is filled with
both crowing laughter and pinched heartache, a shimmering, nuanced portrait of grief and failure. With the author's brains and the protagonist's talent, Laura Cassidy could go places.
