Elfish and Mo were in a band together but after their relationship crashed and burned then so did the band. Mo is putting a new band together and to spite Elfish is going to use the name Queen Mab for it as he knows she wants that too. Elfish in desperation agrees to a contest with the winner earning the right to the name. She has to learn a 43 line speech from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and recite it prior to the live debut of Mo’s new band. She has a week. Good job she has no scruples and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

This is my least favourite of the author’s works I’ve read so far. The main character is a hedonistic narcissist who lies and cheats her way though life with the rest of the characters just being there for her to abuse. Despite this, the “story” is not as appalling as it sounds. It’s a slice-of-life tale about a struggling wannabe musician in ‘90’s Brixton. It’s fast-paced and told in short chapters as Elfish careens from one disaster to the next. I did kind of end up rooting for her in the end. ( )

Another excellent book from Martin Millar - this is the first book of his that i came across, and is well worth the read ( )