No Wonder I Take a Drink

by Laura Marney

Lack of funds force Trisha, an unsentimental lonely boozer Iving in Glasgow, to return to her previous profession as a pharmaceutical rep, pouring tea and telling jokes to sad burnt-out GPs. The only good news is that Steven, her increasingly distant teenage son, is about to move back in with her. The bad news is that Bob, her ex-husband, wants the house. Trisha's mind is unexpectedly made up when she inherits a place in the Highlands. Having pictured a rural idyll, she finds rain, sheep, a jaywalking dog and kamikaze midges. And more rain. Her social life is so limited that she even contemplates joining the Inversnechty Mental Health Awareness Group just for the craic. Then three nurses on holiday leave from Saudi invite Trisha to a ceilidh. A night of whisky-fuelled high jinks with a frozen salmon ensues which leads to a significant encounter with Spider, the local Lothario, and a dramatic discovery that will change Trisha's future forever.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Humor

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

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

[Ian Mapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light hearted romp that has some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

We have a 39 year old single mother of a 15 year old lad. She lives in glasgow and things are not going well, reaching critical mass when her husband and new wife threaten to move back into the family home as lodgers.

Fortunately, she is saved by an inheritance from a distant relative, under the stipulation that she lives in a remote northern village in a house she inherits.

Here, genuinely funny set pieces, mingle with great use of scottish dialect and well rounded and interesting characters. Funniest bits are all animal related, where she tries to put a dog out its misery with a spade. She ends up having to look after it, and then she thinks it has killed next doors rabbit - so she puts the body back in the cage, only to find out from the neighbours that it had died of natural cause and some sick bastard has dug it up and put it back in the cage.

This frivolity is mixed with family intrigue as she determines that people know more about her than she expected, including reconciliation with her father.

Better than normal chick lit fiction.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having sat on the missus's shelf for years, she recommended this as light hearted escapism -it's not chick-lit. So well done her. It started like it would be a bit chick-lit nicey, but had a bit more of a kick and some depth, without straying too far from the comedic boundaries set early on.

The main character is only too plausible (I struggled to think which of the several people I knew who spoke and acted like her in the first half, and then enjoyed working out which of my friends would turn out like her in the second (in a good way).

There's a few really good jokes and one-liners in here - and it gets bonus points for making the best joke about wallpaper I've heard (and that it's one of those with a well crafted build up - the two sentence version isn't that funny, the 20 page build up to deliver made me laugh. On the train. And then I kept going, just enough to get an irritated look from the city gent beside me. For that alone it would get four stars.

[Alisonismail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in a book sale for 50p! I'd never heard of the author before. The scope of this novel was a bit rambling and the structure is a bit frustrating (meanders from Glasgow to the Highlands), but it has several laugh out loud moments and is very atmospheric in describing the transition from Glasgow to the mountains. I also liked that the narrator was a chaotic, bit warm hearted, 40 year old boozer (lovely symbolism for her mental progress... she starts off living off kebabs but then gets into baking!)

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happened on Laura Marney in the Scottish writers section in Waterstones one
rainy Saturday. The blurb made me smile so i bought it,went for a glass of wine
and began to read.I became aware of people in the bar looking at me and realised
that i was actually L.O.L a fab first book i was hooked on her humour and witty writing style
read it in a day and immediatley went on the hunt for her next book!

[P.walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all her books, hilarious and human.

[Snowskool Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutley excellent read. I love Laura's writing style and humour. One of Scotland's greatest humour fiction novels

[Jayne Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully comic account of a middle aged hard smoking hard drinking woman's attempt to start a new life in the Scottish Highlands. Without the laughs it would have been dark, shocking even (the dog!! the whisky!! the cake!!!) but the author's keen sense of humour means the reader is enveloped in a warm glow and all of that nasty stuff (including some particularly icky relationships) can be safely glided over. I particularly liked the profusion of Scottish dialect - even the stuff I wasn't familiar with, because the meaning was always clear from the context. I wasn't sure what the interlude as a medical rep was all about, as its relevance to the plot seemed vanishingly small - I wondered if it was in some way autobiographical - but either way I'm glad it found its way in, because the account of the conference was laugh out loud funny.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a trip up to bonny Scotland I bought this book for some light-hearted read set in the highlands. It totally worked its charm. Trisha a medical sales rep from Glasgow with an ex-husband and a recent bereavement of her mother inherits a cottage on the west coast of Scotland and moves up there. What I liked about this book was it was funny, Trisha's sense of humour so typically Scottish kept the sometimes hard themes light-hearted.

[SadQuarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. Finally a book about real characters that really pulled me into the story from the start. Trisha is a heroine without superpowers or a sword or special futuristic gear. She does not need all that to outgrow the rest of the characters that share the story with her. She shines and she made me laugh more than once.

[Susana · Rating 3 out of 5]

No era lo que esperaba, las críticas hablaban de una escritora que representaba lo mejor de la literatura contemporánea de Escocia y sólo conseguí un libro peligrosamente cerca de ser calificada como "chick lit", que no es mi estilo. Por lo tanto, poco puedo decir del libro salvo que es entretenido.

[Zogman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with almost totally believable characters. Some are larger than life, some I've met somewhere in my life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone.

It's Lillian Beckwith with sweary words.

[Julia]

Och I quite enjoyed it

Not great lierature but an entertaining little read. Came to see bit of an abrupt end but that was probably due to me reading on kindle - showed loads still to read but turned out to be reading group notes etc

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funny and light read in the fish out of water style. Quite a few laughs at her misadventures along the way and a few touching moments when we realise the truth about her inheritance.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK read. Funny in parts, irritating in others. Love the Highland setting.
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/...

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this much more than I did. It apparently inspired other Scottish authors and is hailed as a great example of Scottish penmanship. I'll take Ian Rankin any day thanks

[Fiona Drane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book. Picked it up while browsing in Waterstones. It was promoted as one of the best Scottish books ever and yet I’d never heard of the author or the book. So curious I picked it up, read the cover and bought the book.

This book is very very funny particularly the part that involves a rabbit and a dog. I laughed so much I think my husband and daughter thought I’d gone mad.

It’s a crazy yet poignant story about a woman who finds herself inheriting a house in the highlands and finds a lot more than she bargained for in the process.

Discovered that there is a sequel which I’m trying very hard not to buy quite yet though if I happen to find myself in Waterstones again......

[Just Another Reader]

No Wonder I Take a Drink is an easy, relaxing read. The characters are very realistic and likeable that you can almost identify them with the people in your town, especially if you are living in a small town.

Unlike other protagonists in almost every fiction book who are always muddled in deep philosophical thoughts, who suddenly find a lot of accomplice in solving that one huge mystery, and are busy saving the world, Trisha offers a fresh get-to-know experience. She doesn’t even try to be different, which what makes her stand out and easily relatable. Every ounce of her rings true, from her actions to her language to her thoughts.

The story gives us an intimate look at the everyday life of Trisha when she moved in to the Highlands after she inherited a bed-and-breakfast from a distant cousin of her mother. However, there wasn’t a single dull moment as Ms. Marney has the natural talent for hilarious one-liners. The dog, Bouncer, is also an engaging addition in the story.

The ending is a nice twist in this unsentimental and hilarious book. After reading more than half the book and wondering what’s really the protagonist’s dilemma that she is tasked to uncover, solve, and overcome—a necessary element in every fiction book—you can’t help but send out congratulatory thoughts to Ms. Marney for coming up with such a twisted ending. No wonder Trisha needs to take a drink.

This book is recommended to people who want to have a light read while on a holiday vacation or enjoying a lazy weekend.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this - made me actually laugh at certain bits. Light hearted reading but very entertaining maybe due to Scottish references.

[Jill Milne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because I had previously really enjoyed another of the author's books, My Best Friend Has Issues. Had high hopes for this one but had to give up just after halfway, although it started off ok. I feel the book really took a turn for the worse when the main character moved up north to the village of Inverfaughie. There's a cliched name for a Scottish village!! Unlikeable characters who I think were supposed to be funny but weren't in my opinion, ridiculous and pointless anecdotes ( one after another) rather than a good storyline and the constant cringe-inducing use of the words 'och' and 'wee'. It was too twee for my liking, I wanted to like it which is why I persevered as much as I could but just couldn't see the storyline progressing much beyond more of Trisha/Trixie's escapades in Inverfaughie. And that was another irritation - why didn't she just tell the locals that her name was Trisha and not Trixie instead of letting them carry on calling her the wrong name?! Aargh! Very disappointing though would be intrigued to see how this translated on to the screen as I've heard is happening.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I actually read this whole book as at least a quarter of the way through I realised I was not enjoying it at all. The main character is a badly written, obnoxious, unlikeable, callous person who does whatever she likes without thinking about the consequences. I held very little sympathy for her throughout the book even though I felt that I was meant to, and as such, I have no desire to read any other books by this author.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a little annoying, it had some funny moments but also a lot of 'huh?' moments where the characters didn't seem to react to events or information in the way that most humans would. Then all of a sudden it was like the author thought 'oh, I'll just end it here and get another book out of these characters' and that was it. Disappointing as it had a lot of potential.

[Sho · Rating 1 out of 5]

I seriously don't know why I pushed on with this beyond the first third. The writing is ok but the story, such as it is, is a series of bland anecdotal types of things. As is the way of these things I see it's turning into a series.

Does everything have to be a series these days? Sheesh.

[Kerrie Dodds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable

Liked characters. Will get next book. That pretty well sums it up. Ok more words...do not like the fact the fact you have to keep buying books...that's pretty cheesy market ploy.

[Kirsty]

I tried to like this, but I just didn't get into it.

[Viv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isla Dewar with a drink in her!

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-written but predictable and with a main character that I found it hard to like. I'd like to read more of the author's work though.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

really funny for a light read

[Princess Lynsay loo loo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dragged on a bit. Was a bit disappointed with the ending!!

[Karen Langford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, easy read.

[Janettef · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it a bit slow at the start, but then it really grabbed me and I enjoyed the story.