Pocket Venus is a celebration of life marred by tragedy. Mildred Shay had seen tragedy from a young age: she stood between her mother Lillian and her grandmother over the body of her eight year old brother Arnold, killed on the street in front of his family by a drunken chauffeur. While the outside world suffered during the Great War, the Shay household remained untouched. But from that moment on, a darkness fell over the magnificent mansion in West Palm Beach. This tragic accident in 1918 defined the early life of Mildred Shay.

As an infant Mildred tried her best to bring joy and laughter back to her family; to remember a young life and not an early death. The best way to lift sad lives was, thought little Mildred, by playing the clown.

A career in Golden Age Hollywood followed. Despite her success, Mildred was at the mercy of men: producers, playboys, three husbands, and countless lovers. Anyone following the #MeToo movement will be interested to see its beginnings, over half a century ago.

But then, in old age, Mildred became a close friend of a young journalist: Austin Mutti-Mewse.

Pocket Venus is a witty and intriguing tale of the most unlikely of duos: the author himself, a young jobbing obituary writer and Mildred, the Pocket Venus of the title, now a desperately lonely and long faded film ingénue from Hollywood's 'Golden Era'. Touching and instantly memorable, Pocket Venus is a modern love story based around cross generational relationships. It goes beyond the perceived glitz and glamour of being an actress to offer an insight into the lasting impact of dysfunctional families: it is a timely reminder that fame is no inoculation against the isolation and loneliness of old age.

Mildred had been alone but, like a phoenix rising from the flames, she is brought back to life, almost as if the cameras are rolling again. Austin s friends become her friends, and his family adopt her, sometimes adoring her and admiring who she had been; at other times opened-mouthed at her lack of inhibitions.