Lola Bensky

Book excerpt: Lola Bensky is a nineteen-year-old rock journalist who irons her hair straight and asks a lot of questions. A high-school dropout, she's not sure how she got the job – but she's been sent by her Australian newspaper right to the heart of the London music scene at the most exciting time in music history: 1967. Lola spends her days planning diets and interviewing rock stars. In London, Mick Jagger makes her a cup of tea, Jimi Hendrix (possibly) propositions her and Cher borrows her false eyelashes. At the Monterey International Pop Festival, Lola props up Brian Jones and talks to Janis Joplin about sex. In Los Angeles, she discusses being overweight with Mama Cass and tries to pluck up the courage to ask Cher to return those false eyelashes. Lola has an irrepressible curiosity, but she begins to wonder whether the questions she asks these extraordinary young musicians are really a substitute for questions about her parents' calamitous past that can't be asked or answered. As Lola moves on through marriage, motherhood, psychoanalysis and a close relationship with an unexpected pair of detectives, she discovers the question of what it means to be human is the hardest one for anyone – including herself – to answer. Drawing on her own experiences as a young journalist, the bestselling author of Too Many Men has created an unforgettable character in the unconventional and courageous Lola. Genuinely funny and deeply moving, Lola Bensky shows why Lily Brett is one of our most distinctive and internationally acclaimed authors. 'Brett delivers an entertaining story that is also full of heart.' Australian Bookseller and Publisher 'A touching look at a woman's quest for self-understanding.' Who Weekly 'Funny, warm and insightful.' Herald Sun 'For Brett, resolution has come through creative remembering and retelling, and by constructing a fine comic novel from an unspeakable tragedy.' Australian Book Review 'A witty novel you'll struggle to put down.' Grazia 'A book that will entertain legions of readers.' Courier Mail 'An entertaining story that is also full of heart.' Bookseller+Publisher 'Lily Brett's heroines exude curiosity and Lola Bensky is no exception.' Sun-Herald 'Brett's sixth book hooks you in, not just because of her characteristic wit, but because she was a rock journalist herself back in the day.' Melbourne Times Weekly 'Lola Bensky will thrill [Brett's] fans: finally a book based on her extraordinary experiences as a reporter for Australia's first music magazine, Go-Set, during the most exciting era in pop music history.' Australian Jewish News