Margo’s Got Money Troubles is thought-provoking and hilarious

Content Warning: Contains references to drug abuse.

Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles is an absolute roller coaster ride. Within its pages you’ll find everything you can imagine and more: an affair, young motherhood, wrestling, chicken wings, romance, custody battles, drug abuse, Fortnite and, yes, OnlyFans. It’s as action-packed as it sounds, and yet Thorpe creates the perfect storm of a novel with a touch of humanity and plenty of humor.

Margo Millet, a 20-year-old student, daughter of a former Hooters employee and chronically absent wrestling star, becomes involved in an affair with her English professor and becomes pregnant. Against almost all of her life’s wishes, she decides to keep the baby. Margo isn’t sure why she wants to do this. Whether it’s to prove she can do it, to annoy her father, or just to do the right thing, all she knows is that she wants to keep it.

Margo’s way of navigating the world – following her desires but not really understanding them – is her most authentic quality. When she keeps the baby, when she allows her former pro wrestler and recovering addict father Jinx to move in with her, when she fights for custody of her child, and even when she joins OnlyFans, Margo makes decisions for reasons beyond her does not meet understand. And she admits that.

She oscillates in a uniquely human way between utmost trust and insecurity, between contentment and despair, security and instability. As a 20-year-old student myself, I understand Margo’s feelings. I, too, often don’t know the true motives of my desires. I don’t always know how to navigate moral gray areas. And even though I try to do the right things, sometimes I feel like a bad person.

It’s Margo’s authenticity that keeps the novel moving despite the craziness of the plot. Normally cutting-edge references to things like TikTok, Fortnite and OnlyFans scare me, but Thorpe is so funny and authentic that it works. Her characterization of these references is so spot on that hearing Margo talk about posting a TikTok or playing video games sounds like listening to a brave friend talk about doing the same things, especially because Margo often speaks directly to the reader and breaks the fourth wall.

The authenticity of Margo’s feelings extends to everything she does. As a reader, you can sense from the pages how much she loves her son Bodhi. You’ll laugh with her, sympathize with her when she cries, and learn with her about the crazy world of social media and OnlyFans. And in some of the novel’s most emotionally poignant moments, your heart drops with her in shock and horror.

Thorpe uses Margo’s strong emotions and naivety to explore topics such as drug abuse, abortion and sex work in new ways. Margo’s view of her father changes as she deepens his understanding of his addiction, loneliness, and the cyclical nature of recovery. She learns that addiction is multidimensional; Her father can be tender and helpful, making pasta and cleaning the house, all while struggling with his addiction. Through her own experience, she learns about the contradictions in societal pressures surrounding abortion and sex work—how she had to choose between two different types of shame during her pregnancy, and how the same men who subscribed to her because of her content sent her death threats. Margo’s brutal honesty and thoughtful nature give Thorpe room to ask nuanced questions about modern morality.

Margo’s interest in literature and perspective, gained from lessons with her baby’s father about narrative perspective, adds another dimension to the story. Margo alternates between first and third person, recognizing that the third person perspective can sometimes help us be more forgiving of our former selves. As Margo creates her OnlyFans persona, she thinks about what goes into creating a character, how we come to know an author through her writing, and how we as readers communicate with the literature we consume.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles is hilarious, light-hearted and wildly imaginative. Margo’s uniquely hopeful, if sometimes naïve, perspective in the face of her many challenges propels the plot in a positive direction. I was fascinated by Margo’s quick wit and impulsiveness and always wondered what she would do or say next. Thorpe has captured the perfect balance of plot-driven conflict and humor to make Margo’s Got Money Troubles simultaneously entertaining, thought-provoking and completely unpredictable.

Daily Arts writer Claire Rock can be reached at [email protected].

Related articles