(Published by Little Brown)
Your Cheatin’ Heart is set in 1977 in America when drugs, sex and rock and roll were all that really mattered. Twenty-one-year-old Maggie Lennon from Northern Ireland travels to America looking for a summer job before settling into her career as a teacher. What she finds is very different to what she imagined.
Thanks to her ‘cute’ accent she lands a job as an all night DJ for Radio WA1A, working for Zollie D Follie. Her new best friend Sharla Emma-Lea Ayn introduces her to dope, shaved legs and sex (predominantly with blonde surfers). After that Maggie has passed the point of no return and when the summer ends, Maggie turns her back on Northern Ireland and embraces her new life and new friends.
Due to certain drug-related issues the radio station relocates to Tennessee and Maggie’s life is turned upside down by two men: Nate the handsome, rich, southern gentleman and Buford, a country and western rock star.
As Maggie’s career takes off, her love life takes a nosedive. We don’t know how it happens or whether Maggie must be crazy, but pretty soon she’s standing with a gun in her hand, Buford’s girlfriend is lying on the floor and the police are on their way…
McCartney’s second novel is a roller coaster of a read. Hilarious, evocative and moving, you will adore Maggie and the rest of the crazy cast.