Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair
A Novel
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
“I adored this novel. It’s a story about being an awkward, misfit girl with big dreams in a man’s world. It made me laugh out loud, and it made me really, really want a tattoo.” —Clare Pooley, New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project
An uplifting, feminist coming-of-age love story about a young woman who dreams of becoming a tattoo artist, and living life on her own terms
Introvert Gina Mulley is determined to become a tattoo artist, and to find somewhere she belongs in her conventional Long Island town. But this is 1985, when tattooing is still a gritty, male-dominated fringe culture, and Gina’s whimsical style is far from the norm. Luck is on her side: Gina’s older brother Dominic owns a tattoo shop, and he reluctantly grants her one year to prove herself.
Gina devotes herself to perfecting her craft, but her world is turned upside down when a mysterious psychic and his striking assistant, Anna, arrive on the scene. Anna’s friendship opens Gina’s eyes to thrilling possibilities: finally stepping out of her brother’s shadow and embracing her own quirky self, both in her art and beyond.
The tattoo shop is rocked by a crisis just as Gina finds herself falling in love with Anna. When Dominic gives Gina an ultimatum, she’s faced with an impossible choice: Is this newfound independence and a shot at romance worth sacrificing her dreams? Or can she find a way to have it all?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gervais debuts with the charming account of a recent high school graduate who dreams of breaking the gender barrier for tattoo artists on 1985 Long Island. In need of a job, Gina Mulley convinces her older brother, Dominic, to give her an apprenticeship at his tattoo parlor. Dom has just sold 20% of the fledgling business to investor Jeri Harrison, who plans to tap into an upscale market, but the plans are compromised by a vindictive chamber of commerce president, Dom's lack of faith in Gina, and a romantic relationship between Dom and Jeri. Then Gina meets a young woman named Anna, who visits the shop with her employer, a traveling psychic. Gina and Anna become pen pals and eventually strike up a romantic relationship, and Gina must decide between proving herself in Dom's shop or following Anna on the road. At times the story feels aimless, but Gervais gets a decent amount of mileage out of body art metaphors, such as her description of a tattoo as "something invisible made visible. A truth you'd kept to yourself that you were finally willing to have in the open, to be seen." The complex characters in this otherwise patchy bildungsroman will keep readers turning the pages.
