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Down on the South Beach Drag

A Novel

By: Mary Kathleen Mehuron

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Paperback | 15 July 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
280 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 2.54

Paperback

RRP $28.59

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A poignant and irreverent coming-of-age tale of a queer young aspiring photographer in the ’70s torn between her love for her conservative family and her desire to be true to herself, perfect for fans of Daisy Jones and the Six.

“Glitter and grit . . . a steaming—and unforgettable—summer of initiation.”—James M. Tabor, O. Henry Award winner and author of Blind Descent

“Quirky characters, unpredictable twists, a beautiful love story, and even an appearance by Bruce Springsteen . . . A joy to read!”—Jacqueline Friedland, USA Today best-selling author of He Gets That From Me

1972, Jersey’s Asbury Park. One red-headed girl with a camera, one washed-up old seaside resort, ninety days to decide whether she leaves . . . or finally belongs.

Eighteen-year-old Maeve O’Connor has one way out of her strict Irish-Catholic home: win a statewide photo contest and bolt for art school in Manhattan. She stakes everything on one restless summer in weather-worn Asbury Park, a boardwalk alive with sideshow performers, flickering neon lights, and bar bands chasing their break.

Maeve’s lens, and her pulse, lock onto Georgie, a singer in midnight eyeliner whose voice rattles the plywood walls and refuses every label the town tries to stamp on him. Through Georgie she finds a community of carnival artists, stage performers and night-shift musicians who treat one another like family because the world won’t.

But rumors spread fast in Asbury Park. Scathing newspaper headlines branding her a “Lewd Voyeur,” church busybodies judging her, and Maeve’s own parents tugging her home.

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