Hunky Dory (novel)
Hunky Dory was a novel written by Paul Magrs and independently published via Amazon in January 2021. Magrs described it as the first standalone novel he had written in years;[1] its main character, Dodie Golightly, originated in the 2013 Iris Wildthyme story The Ninnies on Putney Common, and since has appeared in several of Magrs' works.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Dodie Golightly has just taken charge of Hunky Dory café: the best café in the world. In a neglected corner of south Manchester they've been serving frothy coffee and late night pizzas longer than Dodie's even been alive. She's in her mid-thirties, still living at home, and waiting for her life to start. She's hidden herself away too long..!
Her mother Elena has other ideas for the café her recently-deceased husband created. She's decided it's time to go upmarket and continental. This glamorous widow is a bundle of energy: intent on saving the local library, finishing off her memoirs and even organising a little light kidnapping of unruly Creative Writing Professors...
New to the Golightly circle is Ian – a young gay man who comes to work at the café: whose dream is to have a tiny secondhand bookshop and watch the world go by. He's cynical about love and stuck in a mostly-off romance with a lad who works on the market. But this is the year that Ian's about to fall in love at last...
It looks as if Dodie has found love, too – with a sexy, slightly tubby guy who's writing the strangest-sounding sci-fi novel in the world. These three and their best friends and neighbours embark on all kinds of adventures through long summer nights in Manchester, with library sit-ins, nights out dancing, hostage-takings and lots of nocturnal coffee and gin...
A bit like Armistead Maupin in multicultural south Manchester - it's a novel about storytelling, friendship and love: and about finding your place in the world.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
more to be added
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Elena was born and raised in Levenshulme.
- Belinda lives on Chestnut Avenue.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The plot of Oliver's novel Retro-Thrusters parodies a typical Magrs science fiction novel.
- Magrs released an almost complete version of Hunky Dory on his Patreon, with a few chapters moved and/or omitted.[2]
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Dodie has a controlling mother and likes horror films. (PROSE: The Ninnies on Putney Common)
- Ian has pale skin and what appears to be a tattoo of blue feathers covering his collarbone. Dodie assumes he's Irish. (PROSE: The Blue Angel)
- Michael's favourite book is The Mysterious Mr Tweet. (PROSE: Fellowship of Ink)
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Hunky Dory on Amazon
