How to Build a Girl

Synopsis

In 1990 Wolverhampton, 16-year-old Johanna Morrigan longs for a different life. Her family home is chaotic as she wrestles for space with a litter of dogs, her two brothers plus the newly-arrived “unexpected twins”, leading to post-natal depression for Johanna’s mother. Her father, Pat, still has faint hopes of becoming a rock star, with this sense of ambition being shared by his daughter who has her own dreams of making it in the music industry. Inspired by the portraits of her idols she speaks to who adorn her bedroom walls – from Sylvia Plath to Maria Von Trapp – she sets out to become a writer. But when she does so, she’s not welcomed, and so working-class Johanna Morrigan sets out to reinvent her identity as the scathing, stylish critic Dolly Wilde. Adapted by Caitlin Moran from her novel of the same name – itself based on her own experiences – ‘How to Build a Girl’ is a lively and inspirational coming-of-age story about class, gender and daring to dream.