Nobody Loves a Ginger Baby

by Laura Marney

Everybody's on anti-depressants. Not being happy all the time makes them stressed out of their tights. Carol practises uninhibited sex which ends with her panty liner stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe. Donnie, after a mystery bite in a third world country, thinks he's incubating a nest of spiders up his bum. Daphne gets fat. She makes soup all the time and wonders if Woolworth's sell a hose pipe to fit a Vauxhall Vectra. Pierce is a poet; a fat balding womaniser who's only steady relationship is with a cup at the sperm bank. He's the only one not on anti-depressants, and he's the hero.

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2005

About the author

The author of four novels and numerous short stories, Laura Marney is a member of the Glasgow G7 group of writers (Alan Bissett, Nick Brookes, Rodge Glass, Laura Marney, Alison Miller, Zoë Strachan and Louise Welsh).

Born and brought up in Glasgow, Marney co-founded a theatre group there. Since "nobody else could be bothered", she also began writing scripts for the company.

Marney is a graduate of the MLitt course in Creative Writing at Glasgow University, and now teaches there. Her writing has been described as both black humour and chick-lit. She also writes for radio.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls]

As they say, “I wanted so badly to like this novel”—a familiar kiss of death—but in the end I did not. Firstly, the author is a family friend (not my family, my betrothed’s), teacher at the CW programme up the road, and the novel takes place where I live now. These mean nothing in artistic terms, but the title raises a chuckle and the blurb suggests a Celtic Lucy Ellmann. But no. The prose is spunky, filthy, feisty, but does nothing for me. The plot is thin. Daphne is dumped by her depressive boyfriend and mopes in an eccentric way, while her neighbour Pierce is a dosser/artist who trades banter and likes shagging women. Daphne teaches down-and-out Glaswegians in a college. The prose is written in a very accessible style, I suspect largely so local people will pick up the books. For me the comedy got a little tiresome (stretched across the whole novel) and there wasn’t that emotional link you’d expect with the heroine. I respect comic novels immensely (I’m trying to get one published ferchristsake) and know how tough it is to keep the reader’s attention outside the gags. So respect to the author, maybe this humour simply isn’t my thing.

[Viv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight from the hip, and still funny, but heartfelt. Like Isla Dewar, Marney deals with difficult issues such as death and grieving, but never without a humourous West Coast edge.

[Nicola Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had me laughing from the first page.

[Larissa French · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read. Had funny moments & kinda depressing moments too.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I'd read anything by Laura Marney before and it was just chance that I picked this one up - these days my book choices are dictated by what is on the display shelves nearest the children's section of the library! But it was a happy chance, I liked this book and will seek out more of her work. Nobody Loves a Ginger Baby (which I can categorically say is untrue, being both a former ginger baby myself and the proud aunty of one) tells the relatively ordinary story of Daphne, Donnie and Pierce, who live in Glasgow and are all struggling to one extent or another with their mental health, motivation or both. Which sounds miserable but is actually quite funny in places. They are all believable characters and there's enough backstory for each that I felt quite involved with them all.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this was a refreshing transition to contemporary fiction (after having gone through the turgidity of Wolf Hall) this novel failed to sustain its initial attraction.

It started out as a comic story, written from a Glaswegian perspective, of dysfunctional but amusing characters from the world of neets (no employment, no education, no training) most of whom are on benefits and antidepressants. The storylines, of which there were two - of two men with a woman connecting their otherwise non-connecting lives - fail to continue the comedy and sink into further depression.

The not too surprising ending was untypically a happy one. The author's note suggests it wasn't the first one - or the best.

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What seems like just a bog-standard romantic novel with twists and predictable turns is actually something more. Something deeper. It is a story about love, but people and the different types of love that exist are examined.
But it is also about who we are, how we deal with the world, and how many of us are on antidepressants to cope with it all. The characters take on greater depth and realism that they first appeared to have, and you feel a connection with them; you want them to be happy. Well, except maybe Donnie.
Despite the fact that you guess the ending, it still comes at a shock. This is quite an enjoyable read, though different from my usual fare.

[Suzanne Egerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Marney is very Glasgow. Her stories are wry, quirky, funny and frequently rather rude. They are peopled with eccentrics one might think the product of pure imagination, but in fact I have come to the conclusion that they are real Glaswegians only slightly exaggerated.
The dark humour which typifies this writer's work is well shown in Ginger Baby, and there are the usual setpiece situations to delight. A subtle overview of the sectarian difficulties from which Glasgow still suffers is sketched in but not laboured, and the disparate elements of the story well handled. A good read.

[Zogman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite liked it. It's like a collection of short stories bound together by a common theme. It became a bit disjointed at times, but still held my interest until the end. Would I read it again? No, don't think so. Was it worth reading. Purely for entertainment, yes. Do we really need all these 'reading group' questions at the end? No. This is not great fiction, it's just a book I read. I don't want to analyze it to death. I just want to enjoy it. Some people are so anal.

[Mark K.Astley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everybody is on anti depressants and life is a series of naval gazing episodes whether the characters are in a state of happiness or desolation. It is crude in parts and at the end you really don't care about any of the characters, they've gone up their own bottoms - let them stay there!!
A disappointing read..

[Lyndsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really sure what to say, it was good, even if the ending was a bit uhm unexpected!
Even though I only gave it 2 stars doesn't mean it was a bad read. & I will be checking out more of Laura Marney's other books ;)

[Goga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bunch of quirky characters that pull you in and make you care for them even if theay are not the smartest persons or the most likable persons in the world . Full of Scotish humor. Story about happiness and gingers. :)

[Sary Fairchild · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! Incredibly odd, very Glaswegian. I love how Laura Marney manages to fit mental illness into all her books. Makes a psychiatric nurse proud.

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as offensive as you might think but i did have to be aware of where i read it particularly on the bus got me some funny looks !
another great read

[FitzBomb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted this to be brilliant. But it wasn't. It was slow and not what I expected. Story was ok, readable but not one I'll be buying my friends as a gift!

[Sho · Rating 3 out of 5]

well. What can I say? what a weird, sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, story. With a weird end.
It's about the overprescription of tranquilisers

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It's intelligent, realistic chick lit.