Waking Ned — Wendy Holden

Inspired by a true story, Waking Ned is an hilarious novelisation of a new film about everyone's dream -- to win the lottery. Set in Southern Ireland in the tiny coastal village ot Tulaigh Morh, Waking Ned is the comic tale of Jackie O'Shea and Michael O'Sullivan and a lottery scam that changes the lives of the community for ever. When one day Jackie discovers that someone in the village has won the Irish lottery, he suggests to his life-long friend Michael that they should track down the winner, befriend them, and share the jackpot. After a series of false leads they eventually find the winner...Ned Devine, who is dead in his bed, with the winning ticket in his hand and a smile on his face. The shock of winning has killed him. Ned has no family, so Jackie and Michael set in action a complicated plan to claim the money for the whole village to share. The events that unfold are more dramtic than winning the lottery itself. In the vein of The Full Monty, Waking Ned is British film-making at its best, guaranteed to warm hearts and charm millions the world over.