Rufi Thorpe's Priceless Novel "Margo's Got Money Troubles"

Rufi Thorpe's latest novel,  "Margo's Got Money Problems," (2024)  was picked up by multi-Emmy winning TV writer/producer, David E. Kelley ("Big Little Lies") for a mini-series now airing on AppleTV. This indicates Thorpe's novel is alluring enough to garner Kelley's interest and get put expediently into production.  The clever, contemporary writing depicts life and colorful, captivating characters vividly.  Margo is college coed at Fullerton Univ. with a fascinating family history and an adroit proclivity for creativity in her writing.  Her lecherous literature Prof. recognizes her gift and gives her high marks and marks her for an easy tryst outside marriage. The tryst takes a sharp turn when Margo discovers she's pregnant. (How a bright college kid wouldn't be taking precaution to prevent pregnancy or an STD beats me.) This is not the only outlandish scenario but it lays the foundation for a befuddling and beguiling plot. Margo was raised by a beautiful single mom, Shyann, who became pregnant by a married, professional wrestler, Jinx.  Jinx was only intermittently involved in Margo's life.  It was mainly Margo and her mom growing up.  Margo's mom and best friend adamantly recommend terminating the pregnancy.  Heedless,  Margo is determined to keep her baby. Her prof. (a.k.a. baby daddy) wanted nothing to do with the situation outside an abortion.  Margo discovers the cold reality of having a kid without enough cold cash and the harsh reality of trying to earn a living and pay for childcare.  Margo understood her powerless situation, "...every single dollar was power. Power to hire a lawyer, power to control how she spent her time, power to change her appearance, power to command respect. Power to be who she wanted to be." It's Margo's fortitude, intelligence and indefatigable drive the gives the novel its unique contemplation of  media addiction, drug addiction and self invention.  Just released from rehab, Jinx turns up unexpectedly at Margo's door just as she and her steadfast roommate are in need of someone to help cover rent as two others bailed after constant baby wailing.  Margo finds surprising support in her corner that comes in handy as she pummeled by the prof. who wants to fight her for custody. And, with postings on an adult website, Margo's videos are eXtra tantalizing thanks to her crafty scripts. Margo's innate sense to see different perspectives kept things real and really worth reading.  "Real people were both good and bad, all mixed up together, only the screen made everyone into basic silhouettes. The resulting images could appear either way... Even when it came to herself, Margo cold see it both ways: home town girl makes good, defies capitalist patriarchy or teen whore sells nudes while using, too lazy to work."