Maggie's going nowhere

To say that the life of Maggie Cotton is going nowhere would be an understatement. She has no job, after ten years of 'study' she is not allowed to return to university to continue working on a commerce degree, her mother has told her to leave home, she owes money to Centrelink and has broken up with her boyfriend. Her best friend, Jen, is also about to marry a no-hoper and Maggie is having trouble convincing Jen that she is marrying the wrong man.

Maggie needs to find a job, somewhere to live, a reliable man and a way to solve her increasing financial problems. Purchasing a dilapidated caravan with nowhere to legally park it with access to water, gas or a toilet is one problem. Proving that she can hold down a job, even when it involves volunteering for a welfare agency and op-shop also creates issues. Then there is her relationship with men which is not always conventional or successful.

Set in inner Melbourne suburbs, Rose Hartley has written an amusing novel about the (usually) well- meaning exploits of her heroine.