Bio

Kaethe Cherney is a native New Yorker with a background in film development, theatre and contemporary art. She holds an MA in Script Writing from Goldsmiths University.  Her short film and two one-act plays have been produced in London, where she lives with her husband and two children. ‘Happy as Larry’ is her first novel.

Book Synopsis

New York. 1970s. A collapsing family in a collapsing city. The Bronx is burning uptown while the beautiful people party downtown. After her father dies and her older siblings join the Sullivanian cult, Saskia becomes her mom’s mom. The grit and glamour of after-hours Manhattan is portrayed through the lens of a bereaved teen, capturing the hormones and hedonism which come with navigating the complexities of the adult world. Harrowing yet hopeful, this is a story about losing love and finding it again.

Selected Book Reviews

“A heart-breaking novel about an unusual childhood.” – Alexander Stille, author of The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune

“How a psychosexual ‘cult’ tried to tear apart [her] family.” – New York Post

“You won’t be able to put it down!” – Giancarlo Esposito

“A compelling read set in 1970’s New York that paints a vivid, at times heartbreaking picture of a family in turmoil.” – Cosey Fanni Tutti, author of ‘Art, Sex and Music’ and ‘Re-Sisters: The Lives and Recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe and Cosey Fanni Tutti’.

“Catcher in the Rye meets It’s a Wonderful Life, laughed and cried reading this excellent novel, can’t wait for Ms Cherney’s next tome.” – Amazon
 
‘”An intimate portrait of a New York that no longer exists, described through the experiences of a young girl. Tragic, funny and ultimately full of hope.” – Goodreads
 
“The insight and wit of Salinger transposed to 1970s NYC. A coming-of-age tale of family, grief and growing-up, inextricable from the heart-beat of the city through that decade, by an author for whom New York was really their big back-yard.” – Amazon
 
“A moving story about a difficult coming-of-age, which doubles as a love letter to the gritty Manhattan of the 1970s. I was won over by the memorable cast characters, who are flawed but brave—especially by Saskia, the lovable protagonist who turns out to be smarter, tougher, and more resilient than she ever suspected.” Amazon 

Selected Play Reviews

From West End Wilma, April 19th 2016
…Bones is one of the best plays of the evening with intriguing characters and touching on a sensitive subject….

Everything Theatre, April 20th 2016

…The relationship in Bones was touching, complex and strongly defined. An understated gem of the night…

The American Londoner, May 14th 2016

…But the underplayed gem of the night was certainly Bones, a beautifully written and performed chance encounter…

Film

‘Onions’ 2016
BAFTA, London, Sehsüchte Film Festival, Berlin, A Long Week of Short Films, Shanghai and the Phoenix Film Festival, Melbourne

Playwright

‘W.A.S.H’ (Page to Stage Festival, the Lyric Hammersmith, 2015)
‘Bones’ (‘Underexposed’ at The Old Red Lion, 2016)

© Kaethe Cherney 2023. All rights reserved. Design by geneclosuit