Recently graduated young actor Maddie lives the slacker life in mid-90s Glasgow with deadbeat boyfriend Mike. Estranged from her mother due to a violent step-dad, most of the young couple s meager resources go to drink and drugs. Maddie and some friends harbor hopes of putting on their own production of "The Tempest." As she moves from one low-paid acting role to another, and from the abusive relationship with Mike to talented actor Alex, can Maddie confront the past and find a way of living in the present? This book perfectly evokes 90s Britain and those living on the margins, while others prosper. This is a compelling study of one young woman learning the life of an actor, as she learns how to live life, negotiating the self-destructive temptations of young adulthood"