Miranda, a quirky, bloody-minded and loveable young woman, splurges her inheritance on a pile of sagging architecture in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, simply because it bears her name. The now not-so-proud owner of the old Miranda Bay Sanatorium must somehow turn it into a profitable beach resort. An hilarious, heart-stopping, tragi-comic romp through her buying experience. She knows little about running a business and depends heavily on loyal cousin Pansy’s expertise.
In her frantic drive for success, Miranda succumbs to her booze stash, hires a motley collection of workers including the local drunk to get cracking on the property.
Hamilton, her geriatric and lascivious financial advisor, seizes the opportunity to undermine her belief in herself.
But with the elegant and calming Pansy’s help, she pulls herself together and makes some serious decisions - the place must be cleaned up quickly if paying guests are expected.
So the local drunk, Neville, has to do some heavy work, but, due to his own booze stash, he is accident-prone and threatens everything when his fire gets out of control.
The establishment is finally ready. And the guests trickle in – definitely not the A-list types Miranda has envisaged. Her clientele - a collection of undertakers, odd artists, sex fiends, happy yet boring little families of mediocrity, dull honeymooners - are not the sophisticates she’d hoped for, and she quickly grows to despise them.
So having met her guests and now at the brink of despair, Miranda experiences deepening depression and manic behaviour. She contrives and delivers her wackiest money-making ideas yet in her desperation to avert certain catastrophe.
Brace yourself for an hilarious, tragi-comic romp, full of intrigue and even terror, as Miranda battles through her buying experience. There's both an emotional and tender unfolding of events as we join a young woman’s roller coaster ride in the face of financial ruin. A novel to laugh and cry over, witty and wicked...

Suggested by Members

Recommended to book clubs by 4 of 4 members.