Publisher's Synopsis
Halfway down Mersey Street sits a freestanding ramshackle community centre amidst the threat of encroaching gentrification. At its beating heart are the people who gather and use its special facilities. Cora Bliss, a young Masters graduate, returns home from London to discover that Geraldine, her late father's partner, has been systematically running up the debts by running down her business. Unscrupulous property developer, Charlie Iblis, is keen to get his hands on the asset and develop it into apartments, retail and leisure. Realising they might lose this precious gem in the L1 postcode, the clients and residents rally around to save the hub...but is it too late?
TAKE A TOUR:If you arrive at Mersey Street Studios you will meet Gabby and Ayshae on Reception. They are chatty and, let's say, inquisitive but friendly. Gabby models risque basque outfits in the evening around various iconic city locations and has quite a following in Instagram. Ayshae is Cora's spy. She is her eyes and ears on the front desk. She also doubles as the company bookkeeper. If you go through into the lounge you will find Cora's Coffee Lounge staffed variously by Cora herself, Andreas (Cora's Spanish former lover), or Geraldine (her arch nemesis). Cora and Andreas 'once had a great fortnight together' but have remained friends of a kind ever since. Things can get a little tense around them at times, not least because Andreas believes they have some unfinished business. If you enter the lounge at just the right time you might see Charlie Iblis arrive. His visits only ever coincide with Geraldine being on duty. He never buys a coffee and always brings her a gift. Whatever is going on between them is kept secret for now. He is a big property developer who has a keen interest in more than just Geraldine. She, on the other hand, knows a good thing when she sees it. She has made it known that she is keen to cash-out on the hub but there is a problem with that - it's not her; it's Cora's! Up on the top floor is the art room with artists in residence. Georgia and Aidan are sweet sixteen. She is infatuated with Geraldine's son, Nathan. His is twenty-one and very much the older man in her life, although he doesn't seem to know it yet. Aidan loves Georgia but she doesn't seem to notice all that much. She treats him like her pet but will she regret it? Moolana is another resident. She is an invisibility artist. Everything she creates is invisible. Which brings us onto the TV news crew consisting of Katie Swallows, award-winning regional TV journalist and her long suffering crew, Mike and Cam. Katie was sacked from the network when she ran a story on Moolana's masterpiece called, 'Nothing'. The film report consisted of empty walls, corners, cabinets and spaces. It was too much for the audience and then when it got stolen she blamed herself for 'leaving it where everyone could see it'. Nathan lives in the penthouse. Like Geraldine he is extremely ginger. But unlike her he is a slob and seems to have a string of girls falling for him; Marilyn, Marney and Georgia to name but a few. Mysteria, or Mental Yentil of the hub's streaming, screaming psychic! M Marty & Mitch occupy the basement. Mitch is a dystopian sci-fi writer who, as a result of a medical mishap, went into a coma before the start of national lockdown in March 2020. He woke up in the middle of it and to this day he still thinks he's trapped in a parallel world identical to the one he left behind. At the time he couldn't understand why people were wearing masks, there was a killer virus on the loose, he couldn't go home or see his family or friends. And when he looked out the hospital window the streets were completely empty! These are just some of the people at Mersey Street Studios hub. Jump into the story to meet the rest and find out what happens to everyone in the end.
