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Last Chance Cafe

Last Chance Cafe 1

by Liz Byrski
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/04/2012
5/5 Rating 1 Review

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Margot detests shopping malls. Any distraction is welcome, and the woman who has chained herself to the escalator, shouting about the perils of consumerism, is certainly that. She recognises Dot immediately – from their campaigning days, and further back still, to when Margot married Laurence.

Dot is in despair at the abandonment of the sisterhood, at the idea of pole dancing as empowerment and the sight of five-year-olds with false eyelashes and padded bras. She's still a fierce campaigner, but she isn't sure where to direct her rage.

Meanwhile Margot holds a haunting resentment that her youthful ambitions have always been shelved to attend to the needs of others. And as the two women turn to the past for solutions for the future, Margot's family is in crisis. Laurence travels in a bid to repress his grief, daughter Lexie loses her job after twenty years, and younger sister Emma hides her pain with shopping binges.

With aching empathy, Liz Byrski assembles a fallible cast of characters who are asking the questions we ask ourselves. What does it mean to grow older? Are we brave enough to free ourselves from the pressure to stay young? And is there ever a stage in life when we can just be ourselves?

About the Author
Liz Byrski is the author of a number of non-fiction books and has worked as a freelance journalist, a broadcaster with ABC Radio and an advisor to a minister in the Western Australian Government. She is the author of five other bestselling novels: Gang of Four; Sex & Money; Belly Dancing for beginners; Trip of a Lifetime and Bad Behaviour. Liz has a PhD from Curtin University where she teaches professional and creative writing.

ISBN:
9781742610900
9781742610900
Category:
Contemporary fiction
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-04-2012
Publisher:
Pan Macmillan Australia
Country of origin:
Australia
Pages:
384
Dimensions (mm):
199x130x25mm
Weight:
0.29kg
Liz Byrski

Liz Byrski is the author of eight novels and a number of non-fiction books.

She has worked as a freelance journalist, a broadcaster with ABC Radio and an advisor to a minister in the Western Australian Government.

Liz has a PhD in writing from Curtin University where she is the Director of the China Australia Writing Centre.

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1 Review

“…from childhood to our dotage is there ever a time in a woman’s life when it’s okay for her to look the age she is?”

Last Chance Café is the sixth book by Australian author, Liz Byrski. At almost seventy, Margot is sure it is too late to return to her youthful dream of becoming a writer, a dream derailed by pregnancy, marriage, children and divorce. But encountering Dot, a fierce campaigner for women’s rights and a friend from those youthful days, and getting involved in a new campaign, reignites the passion to write.

Margot’s ex-husband, Laurence temporarily escapes to Spain to avoid dealing with a major upheaval in his life; Margot’s sister, Phyllida is faced with a major change in her own life, and some shocking revelations about the husband she thought she knew; Margot’s daughters, Lexie and Emma both have their own challenges to overcome. But this extended family and their close friends manage to (eventually) pull together and accept each other’s support and love, while becoming an integral part of a worthwhile cause.

Byrski gives the reader characters of the type we encounter every day, a setting that feels familiar, natural dialogue and a realistic plot. Perhaps what Byrski writes is chic lit for the mature woman (some have cleverly coined the term “hen lit”), but she always touches on interesting and relevant issues. In this novel, as well as ageing, she touches on the sexualisation of young girls, and the power of market forces on female image. She also takes the reader back to Sydney in the fifties and sixties, the era of the Push. She even manages to include a bit of intrigue: just who is the father of the boy adopted long ago? This is another excellent offering from Liz Byrski and readers will look forward to In The Company of Strangers.

Contains Spoilers No
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