Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe:

Margo is the result of a one-nighter between a professional gambler and a professional wrestler.  She gets pregnant by her college tutor and has trouble paying the bills.  She turns to camwork, negotiating running an Only Fans account, the legal process of proving she is fit to raise a child and repairing her damaged relationship with two equally damaged human beings.  

It’s an outrageous concept and Thorpe makes the most of it, using American subculture (wrestling, gambling, porn, social media, LARPing) as the basis of a critique of misogyny and capitalism itself. That’s not to say this is a deep, angry novel - it’s one that is broadly comic and often very funny.  Margo’s camwork is portrayed as ludicrous, surreal and the concept of what its purpose is, derided. 

It’s a novel that matures rapidly and gets rid of its somewhat arch framework, the construction of a novel (Margo is a creative writing student) in the first half of the book.  Ultimately though, it doesn’t quite hang together as a comic novel with a serious message.  However, it’s one that has already sold internationally and the TV series is already in production, with Elle Fanning as Margo and Nicole Kidman as her Mum… it’s one that you’re going to need to have an opinion on.  It’s published by Hodder And Stoughton on July 4th and I thank them for a preview copy.  #margosgotmoneytroubles