Maggie's Tree

Maggie's Tree

by JulieWalters (Author)

Synopsis

It was supposed to be 'a lovely break'. As their mutual friend Helena is the toast of Broadway, stand-up comedian Cissie O'Brien, who is the nation's darling with her popular television series, decides to take the beautiful and troubled actress Maggie Salt to New York to see her. But Maggie, a destructive whirlpool of a personality, is cracking up fast - 'out of her tree' - and on arrival she suddenly disappears into the freezing February night, no one knows where. As the search for their friend continues, dangerous cracks occur in the lifelong relationships of Cissie, Helena and her stoic husband Mark. Helena has always been utterly self-centred and now Cissie, haunted by the tabloid outing of her relationship with her lover Jenny back home, disappears too. Now, two of the closest of friends are lost separately somewhere in snowbound Manhattan. Meanwhile, Maggie has been rescued by a stranger, Michael, who offers her sanctuary of a highly ambiguous kind. Julie Walters' dark and very funny first novel is as assured as her celebrated work for stage, television and the cinema. It is a brilliant debut.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 264
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 12 Oct 2006

ISBN 10: 0297848690
ISBN 13: 9780297848691
Book Overview: Hugely promotable author - 'arguably the nation's best-loved actress' (Sunday Times)

Media Reviews
'a stunningly assured delightful debut' -- John Harding THE DAILY MAIL 'knock-out stuff, the work of a writer who knows what she's doing.' -- Susan Jeffries THE INDEPENDENT 'Lots of eccentricity with shades of Woody Allen and VALLEY OF THE DOLLS.' EVE 'the emotional issues are addressed tenderly and with feeling.' -- Lianne Kolirin DAILY EXPRESS 'Walters' writing is powerful at times, and has the immediacy that the best of her dramatic acting does.' THE LONDON PAPER 'This would be a perfectly reasonable first novel even if it were not by an actress who is a National Treasure. It is set in the theatre, but mainly concerns the tragedy, black comedy and sheer chaos of mental illness.' -- Kate Saunders THE TIMES 'a spirited novel that captures some of the careening terror of mental illness. It's not without a certain deadpan wit, either.' -- Hephzibah Anderson THE OBSERVER 'Walters's prose style is likeable and bright' -- Sophie Harrison THE SUNDAY TIMES
Author Bio
Born in Birmingham 54 years ago, Julie Walters became a nurse before joining a Liverpool theatre group. Since then she has been nominated for an Oscar for Educating Rita, having made the part her own on stage, and starred in Billy Elliot. She is Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films, and most recently co-starred with Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls. Versatile enough to appear both as Mrs Overall in her friend Victoria Wood's 'Acorn Antiques' as well as the sexy Wife of Bath in the BBC's adaptation of The Canterbury Tales, she is 'arguably the nation's best-loved actress' (Sunday Times).