Paper Cup by the Scottish author Karen Campbell was published in 2022. It begins in Glasgow where Kelly a down and out is in George Square sleeping on a park bench. A young woman dressed as a bride sits beside Kelly – it’s ‘a bottling’ in Scotspeak – otherwise known as a hen party, but the hens have abandoned the bride while looking for chips and cheese. The bride takes pity on what she thinks is an old man and ends up giving all of her ‘takings’ – the bottling money gathered – to Kelly. At £1 a kiss from any poor guys who couldn’t avoid them in a pub, it amounts to about £50. Kelly is ecstatic to have the money but it sets her off on a drinking binge, but not before she discovers that the bride has accidentally left her engagement ring among the coins.

The bride left a couple of clues as Kelly heard that her name is Susan and she lives in Gatehouse-of-Fleet, in Dumfries and Galloway. It’s a place that Kelly knows well as she grew up nearby, but she hasn’t been there for years because of the sort of life she’s living now. Alcohol has ravaged her, but deep down Kelly is a decent person and she’s determined to track down Susan to return her ring. But before Kelly can get on the road to Gatehouse she witnesses a horrific accident when a bus ploughs through a crowd of people, causing several deaths. Kelly does her best to save one of the men, sacrificing her coat to help stop his bleeding, and she’s caught on camera doing it. While Kelly seeks Susan she herself is being sought by the newspapers.

This is a well written book, it’s definitely not a comfort read as it deals with substance abuse and the darker side of city life, but it does have an upside and although Kelly is very far from perfect, it’s alcohol that brings out the worst in her.

It annoys me when authors use actual incidents in their books with just a small change. Obviously the bus crash and fatalities were based on the horrific bin lorry crash in Glasgow’s George Square some years ago. I may be being oversensitive here.

We had a holiday in Dumfries and Galloway some years ago so we had visited all of the locations that Kelly visited on her ‘pilgrimage’ and that always adds to a book when you can see all of the scenery at the locations.

You can read Jack’s thoughts on the book here.