Final Demand

Natalie is beautiful and bright. Her life, however, is going nowhere, and she's running out of time. She has a brilliant scam in mind that will hurt no one, but to work it, she has to have a last name that begins with T. One day a repairman comes to her flat to cut off the gas for non-payment, a loser (who lives with his mother and collects reptiles) named Colin Taylor. So Natalie marries him. But the scam does hurt people. In fact, it causes awful tragedy.Deborah Moggach writes from such a deep understanding of her characters and with such acute observaton it's almost painful.