East Auckland creator Jodie Shelley’s latest written work seeks to problem societal magnificence requirements along with her trademark humorous type.
It’s entitled Zoe & Mila and is Shelley’s third guide. The novel is described as a comical Kiwi journey that sees a gaggle of “bad-a** girls band collectively to reclaim stolen property, confront societal magnificence requirements, and navigate the chaos of medicine and gangs they’re uncovered to by their next-to-useless receptionist”.
One of many title characters, Zoe, owns a boutique recruitment company and is struggling to handle the “terrible younger man” she employed as her receptionist.
Her finest buddy, Mila, finds herself by accident pregnant along with her fifth child, regardless of her husband’s vasectomy and her preliminary plan to have only one little one.
In the meantime, daring, buxom babe Layla lives life as a solo mum, experimenting with a sequence of hilarious and disastrous beauty procedures.
Their lives take a flip towards the chaotic with the theft of the corporate foosball desk, some hidden medication, and a gang member who’d actually like them again.
The novel is an entertaining and fast-paced journey combining a light-hearted examination of the futility of the ‘magnificence obligation’ and explores the worth of friendship, and the “significance of loving ourselves simply the best way we’re”.
“The inspiration for this novel emerged following discussions with a buddy concerning the distinctive attractiveness of each particular person and the futility of subscribing to 1 type of standardised magnificence,” Shelley says.
“The story revolves round friendship, marriage, and managing underperforming workers.
“There are moments of excessive journey, there are gang members, medication, pubs, and loads of acerbic workplace banter.
“This novel is lighter than my final. My earlier novel, A Thousand Paper Cups, explored homophobia and household hurt, and my newest novel challenges societal magnificence norms in a humorous and undemanding means.
“My first, The Tūi Has Landed, was a finalist within the Wishing Shelf Awards, whereas my second attracted a bronze medal in the identical awards.
“The awards are judged by common readers based mostly in London and Stockholm. It’s nice to see Kiwi novels have a world attraction.”
Shelley already has a fourth novel nicely underneath means for launch in 2026 so followers of her writing have a lot to look ahead to.
She started writing her first novel after following an Instagram dwell sequence by Irish creator Marian Keyes in 2021.
Shelley mixed her studying from that sequence along with her innate capability to weave humour into tales with grittier underlying themes to create her very readable Kiwi novel.
