Looking for Andrew McCarthy

Looking for Andrew McCarthy
Jenny Colgan

The third novel by the Sunday times bestselling author of Amanda’s Wedding'I'm wearing a beautiful pink dress, and I'm in a big pink room with billowing curtains…and I'm dancing to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark…and my handsome partner leans over and whispers…'Yes, 80s child Ellie really thought life was going to be like Pretty in Pink, St Elmo's Fire and all those other movies – where everyone was astoundingly glamorous, popular, successful, had huge apartments and lived happily ever after. But now that she and her gang are thirty, she has to admit that things haven't quite turned out that way. When did horrible flats, difficult relationships and menaningless jobs take over?And, more importantly, what happened to the coolest, wisest, most inspirational Brat Packer of them all? Where is Andrew McCarthy now? Did life fulfil its promise for him? Is he happy on Channel 5? Surely he, of all people, can tell Ellie what to do about her thirty-angst?Determined to get her idol to unravel some of life's great mysteries, Ellie sets out, unwillingly accompanied by her best friend Julia, on a quest across the USA, from LA to New York to find him. It's an unlikely epic, by turns hilarious, romantic and downright uncomfortable – but, helped by a cast of thousands, of whom Frosty the Giant Pig is probably the least improbable, they do find some answers, although not the ones they expected

JENNY COLGAN

Looking for Andrew McCarthy

Dedication (#u1371438a-9d58-5d80-891b-6ec1249ba3ee)

This book is dedicated to the girls I first watched these films with, particularly Queen Margaret’s finest: Katrina McCormack, Karen Murphy and Alison Woodall. (I was going to include some Nightmare on Elm Street stuff, but I reckoned we’d get too frightened.)

Epigraph (#u1371438a-9d58-5d80-891b-6ec1249ba3ee)

The passion runs deep.

Strapline, St Elmo’s Fire, 1985

The laughter. The lovers. The friends. The fights.

The talk. The hurt. The jealousy. The passion. The pressure.

The real world.

Strapline, Pretty in Pink, 1986

Bernie’s back – and he’s still dead!

Strapline, Weekend at Bernie’s II, 1993

Contents

Cover (#u72dfebea-712f-594b-8a04-0b9dd21d1c56)

Title Page (#u08304325-3821-55f8-b056-df7b3b1c14fb)

Dedication (#u00211c50-fd84-5956-94d7-fc09ae25ed5c)

Epigraph (#ua1abbc15-6e46-55b0-ab23-7d186b0e7ac6)

Chapter 1: Less Than Zero (#u053088ee-c57f-5be9-a86c-6eca66ad5d46)

Chapter 2: Absolute Beginners (#uc38feb76-6b54-506f-a32a-c9da8b6c1cad)

Chapter 3: The Breakfast Club (#u1c22ebdd-c8b4-5fa7-8f96-cfae2ae1f7b6)

Chapter 4: The Sure Thing (#udae110fb-a86e-5efb-aac5-42ba683c466d)

Chapter 5: Footloose (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6: Pretty in Pink (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7: Say Anything (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8: Planes, Trains & Automobiles (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9: Dangerous Liaisons (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10: Big (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: Licence to Drive (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: Adventures in Babysitting (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: The Lost Boys (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: Some Kind of Wonderful (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Praise (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Less Than Zero (#ulink_59db1ea1-f3f5-5342-ac93-cd7a35b5804f)

‘HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY!’

Simple Minds. Ellie nudged it up with her foot, still concentrating on whitening up an extremely old pair of stilettos, and joined in with gusto.

‘Wooohhwoooahh!’

The phone rang and she turned the music down reluctantly.

‘Hedgehog!’

‘Oh, hi Dad.’

‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!’

‘Yes, yes, yes.’ Ellie tried to sound embarrassed, but was actually pleased.