by Christopher Collett

Newcastle writer Rosalind Wyllie’s darkly funny debut novel follows the lives of two girls working in a Soho strip-club in the summer of 1991.

Stripper Tiggy is a poor little rich kid who has a difficult relationship with her father and is having an affair with a married man. Lost and needy, the only things she feels she can rely on are vodka and cigarettes.

In contrast, hostess and prostitute Scarlett is a tough cookie who is using her devastating good looks to make her fortune. Fiercely independent and ambitious, she has a real malicious streak, which she exhibits when she goes to live with Tiggy.

Written in short, punchy chapters from both women’s points of view, Wyllie’s narrative alternates between neurotic Tiggy’s haphazard attempts to sort out her life and Scarlett’s cold-hearted money-making schemes. The latter’s caustic wit and adventures into the darker side of the sex industry make her chapters far more engaging than Tiggy’s, which are characterised by self-indulgence.

Despite being set in the seedy world of strip clubs and prostitution, Everything You Ever Wanted is ultimately a novel about childhood, with Wyllie’s protagonists frequently using their contrasting upbringings to justify their behaviour. But, while their flaws can be explained by their respective dysfunctional families, it is still difficult sympathise with either.

Despite the lack of likeable characters, though, Everything You Ever Wanted is a witty, well-observed debut that marks Wyllie out as a writer with a promising future.

So, that's quite nice isn't it?  Though I love my girls and so have no idea what he means about them being unlikable :).

While I'm on THANKS to those of you who have written amazon reviews - to those who haven't - tut tut.  Come along - get a move on.

Oh and I'm signing at Borders Silverlink this saturday if anyone wants to come and say Hi.

Pip Pip

Roz x