Winner, Commonwealth Book Prize, Pacific Region 2012
Looking back, Martha could've said no when Mr Booker first tried to kiss her. That would've been the sensible thing to do. But she's sixteen, she lives in a small dull town-a cemetery with lights-her father is mad, her home is stifling, and she's waiting for the rest of her life to begin. Of course Martha would kiss the charming Englishman who brightened her world with style, adventure, whiskey, cigarettes and sex.
But Martha didn't count on the consequences.
Cory Taylor is an award-winning screenwriter who has also published short fiction and children's books. Her first novel, Me and Mr Booker, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Pacific Region), her second novel, My Beautiful Enemy, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. She lives in Brisbane.
'Me and Mr Booker is a book of wavering, hesitant in its sympathies, welcoming readers to find their own allegiances however they please, which is a mark of its confidence, as well as Cory Taylor's impressive talents.' Rumpus
'Hands down, one of the best coming-of-age novels I've ever read.' Benjamin Law, author of The Family Law
'Me and Mr Booker is sharply observed and blackly comic, but it is also a tender depiction of love, sex, power and one girl's heartbreaking step into adulthood.' Australian Bookseller and Publisher
'Controlled and elegant.' David Vann
'Cory Taylor's characters are magnificently created.' Weekend Australian
'Me and Mr Booker is pitched as a coming-of-age novel, but this implies a simpler narrative than Taylor has achieved. Martha is a memorable creation and an assured debut.' Sydney Morning Herald
'Part Lolita, part Bridget Jones, Martha - witty and wise beyond her years - is lost in a world of dysfunctional adults, particularly the charming, alcohol-soaked Mr Booker...Cory Taylor is a wonderful writer and Me and Mr Booker is riveting - a disturbing, darkly comic coming-of-age story unlike any you have ever seen!' Jill McCorkle, author of Going Away Shoes
'Taylor's straightforward prose captures the nuances of being at an age where you cannot see the differences between being a teenager and being an adult.' Publishers Weekly
'Me and Mr. Booker...[is] about Martha, who, in her determination not to become like the stagnantly disappointed adults in her life, embarks on another rite you may find familiar: the probably painful, perhaps misguided, and definitely enlightening rush to grow up.' Shelf Awareness
