Last Chance Cafe

Description

"Thought provoking characters ...an intelligent, engaging read" Sydney Morning Herald 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? PRAISE FOR LIZ BYRSKI "Her plots and characters get stronger with each book" The Sydney Morning Herald "Liz Byrski has a guaranteed cheer squad for her novels which champion...women taking charge of their life and growing old creatively" Daily Telegraph Fans of Monica McInerney, Liane Moriarty and Joanna Trollope will love Liz Byrski.

Liz Byrski is the author of seven novels and a number of non-fiction books, the latest of which is Getting On: Some Thoughts on Women and Ageing. She has worked as a freelance journalist, a broadcaster with ABC Radio and an advisor to a minister in the West Australian Government. Liz has a PhD in writing from Curtin University where she teaches professional and creative writing.