It should be an idyllic holiday: Liv and her three best friends – Beth, Binnie and Ange – and their families spending three weeks in a luxurious resort in Corfu.
Liv always found it hard to make friends until she bonded with fellow new mothers Beth and Binnie. It was a relaxed friendship, the kind she’d always craved, until the ambitious and wealthy Ange joined the group. Suddenly they are all vying for bigger houses, luxury shopping, private schools. Liv and husband, Pete, fall behind and she sees the Corfu trip as her last chance to salvage her bond with ‘the girls’.
But ‘little nothings’ – matching outfits for three but not Liv; a snide comment here and there; an accidentally revealed photograph of a trip Liv was left out of – start to add up. Suddenly Liv is in a battle to reclaim her place in the group – but just how ruthless an adversary will Ange turn out to be?
This is a fun and fast read that explores what happens when female friendship turns toxic. None of the characters are likeable but parts of the story are relatable, particularly the self-doubt and anxiety that can plague even the closest friendships – although I hope my holidays with friends never end up like this one!
Reviewed by Melinda Woledge
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julie Mayhew is an award-winning novelist, an award-nominated radio dramatist and has written short stories and stage plays to critical acclaim. As an alumnus of the BFI NETWORK x BAFTA Crew programme and an inaugural member of BAFTA Connect, Julie now also writes and directs for the screen.
Her original screenplay Don’t Mention The War features on the 2023 WScripted Cannes screenplay List, her feature biopic Skating For Ladies is a recipient of BFI NETWORK Early Development Funding, and her naturalistic sci-fi feature For Only An Hour was a selected project at Stowe Story Labs 2022. For TV she is developing original TV series ‘Off Grid’ with Studio21, after it was a Finish Line quarter-finalist, Screencraft Screenwriting semi-finalist, and a Studio21 Drama Series finalist, showcased at Content London 2021.
As writer/director she has helmed award-winning short Unknown Number, forthcoming comedy The Good Fight, and is currently enjoying festival attention with Super 8 short For Mum.
Julie’s latest book Little Nothings, a Highsmithian tale of toxic friendship and violent revenge set on the holiday island of Corfu, was published internationally by Bloomsbury in 2022, and is in development for TV with Hazey Jane Films. Previously for Bloomsbury, she wrote the critically acclaimed contemporary thriller Impossible Causes (2019), about four teenage girls accused of witchcraft in a remote British enclave, which was also optioned for TV.
As a journalist, Julie worked as a traffic and travel presenter, football correspondent, roving radio breakfast reporter and a features writer for the national press. As an actress, she appeared on the London stage, at the Edinburgh Festival and was a regular comedy voice on Radio 4.
Born and raised in Peterborough, home is now Buckinghamshire. She is mum to two boys. Her best friend is a border terrier called Connie.
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