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y separately published work icon Calumny While Reading Irvine Welsh single work   novel   satire  
Issue Details: First known date: 2008... 2008 Calumny While Reading Irvine Welsh
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'Martha Elliott is a clever, determinedly single, borderline anal retentive who lives with her family: a silent father, a mother who does not notice her, a sister who is inveterately stoned, and a younger brother who makes Martha want, in her own words, 'to disembowel him'. She's not too bad at number crunching, but in the kitchen she is a true artiste, albeit more domestic gorgon than domestic goddess. She hates instant coffee and will not suffer fools or anybody who displays bad railway station etiquette.

'The same day her best friend Grace lends her a copy of the Irvine Welsh novel Trainspotting, Martha is stricken by a bout of 'escalator-rage' when she sees an elderly woman standing on the 'wrong' side of the escalator. She forces her way past, but then the woman falls to her death. Unfortunate for Martha and, rendered even more unfortunate when the elderly woman turns out to be the mother of the popular politician Sean Delaney, a champion of children's rights and moral causes, there also happens to be an election looming.

'So, did Martha actually cause the old woman's death? How will her dysfunctional family and best friend Grace, who has her own demons, cope with the unwanted attention from television crews and police investigators? Will Martha get her life back and finish reading Trainspotting?' (Publisher's blurb)

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Last amended 23 Apr 2009 12:54:56
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  • 2000s
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