It’s easy to see why American writer Rufi Thorpe’s fourth novel has been snapped up for a soon-to-be-released TV adaptation with an A-list cast.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles has a comical, irreverent and unpredictable storyline centring on a chaotic yet savvy young woman who finds novel ways to navigate her difficulties and complex family ties. For all its light-hearted dizziness, it’s a novel that leaves you pondering the classist and gendered injustices that lie just below the surface of modern society. Oh, and it also weaves in pornography and pro-wrestling (in hilarious ways), adding to its potential binge-worthiness as a streamed series. You find yourself rooting for protagonist Margo from the outset, despite the naivety of her (some might say dubious) life choices – beginning with her decision as a 19-year-old college student to go ahead with a pregnancy resulting from a brief fling with her married professor (who is very keen not to be involved). The reality of this decision kicks in fast when Margo brings her baby Bodhi home to her shared flat. She realises she can’t afford the childcare necessary to hold down her waitressing job, and financial stress is compounded when two of three roommates hightail it. Just as she's running out of options, her ingenuity wins out and a plan forms, unfolding in directions that are completely over the top yet highly plausible, and aided by the arrival of her ex-Pro Wrestling father, ‘Jinx’. Inspired by Jinx‘s entertaining anecdotes, Margo decides the way to make a quick buck is by starting an experimental account on subscription-based porn platform OnlyFans. Margo’s highly amusing content leads to her becoming an online sensation. But just as she regains financial stability, big cracks start to appear. Through Margo’s story, author Thorpe provides an entertaining and nuanced exploration of the moral and social judgement often placed on people because of their age, sex, profession or social status. Margo loves Bodhi unequivocally, and is a capable, resilient parent, balancing her income-generating work and his care much better than if she’d continued waitressing. Yet she is judged harshly. Adding to the nuance is the clever construction of the novel, with Margo’s narration used as a metafictive device as she alternates back and forth between third and first person - it seems she uses third person to distance herself from her more embarrassing mistakes. Early on, she explains, “It’s true that writing in third person helps me. “It is so much easier to have sympathy for the Margo who existed back then rather than try to explain how and why I did all the things that I did.“ I never imagined I’d enjoy a novel with pro-wrestling and porn at its core, but there was something about Margo’s pragmatism, pluck and wit that really struck a chord, not to mention the brilliant portrayal of its cast of flawed characters, my favourite being the loveable Jinx. Comments are closed.
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