The Shelf by Helly Acton
Paperback published by Zaffre 9th July 2020:
Everyone in Amy’s life seems to be getting married or so instagram tells her, and she feels like she’s falling behind.
So when her boyfriend surprises her with a dream holiday to a mystery destination, she thinks this is it he’s going to finally pop the Big Question. But the dream turns into a nightmare when she finds herself on the set of a Big Brother-style reality television show, The Shelf.
Part of chapter one, from a proof copy
Along with five other women. Amy is dumped live on TV and must compete in a series of humiliating and obnoxious tasks, in the hope of being crowned The Keeper.
Will Amy’s time on the show make her realise there are worse things in life than being left on the shelf?
Amy Wright is laying in bed, staring at herself in the mirror on the wall and counting her chins. Her long dark hair is curled up on top of her head like chocolate doughnut she ate in secret yesterday and, if she squints, she could be a sumo wrestler. But Amy isn’t going to let a Fat Day spoil her mood. Not today. Instead, she blinks her blue eyes and takes a mental snapshot of the best day of her life.
What Amy doesn’t realise is that the best day of her life will turn out for the worst.
She takes her phone from the bedside table and opens Instagram to see who’s got engaged, married or pregnant in the last eight hours. She breathes a small sigh of relief when there are no diamond rings or baby emojis in sight. She’s been followed by some random called @shrinktquick, and Jane’s posted another close-up of the twins. This morning they’re smeared in a rank blend of bananas and carrot, and she’s commented about missing lie-ins . It says poor me, but it means praise me.
About author Helly Acton
Helly Acton is a copywriter from London with past lives in the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Born in Zimbabwe, Helly and her family emigrated to the East Sussex coast when she was fifteen years old. Here she finished school and spent her holidays in Saudi Arabia, where her father had been placed with work. She studied Law at King’s College London before following a more creative path into advertising. In her mid twenties, Helly escaped the rat race and took a three month career break to travel to Africa, India and Asia before landing in Australia. What was supposed to last one year ended up lasting six, and after a lie-affirming break-up in Sydney she returned home to find the last of her single friends. Helly threw herself into the deep end of online dating in the city and uses her experience as a single woman in her early thirties, torn between settling down and savouring her independence, as a source of inspiration for her stories.
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