At fourteen, Miranda Ford inadvertently discovered beauty pageants, as well as all the lies and cheating that go along with them. Her career was short-lived, but when Miranda, now Ford Miller, became a mother, she concentrated all her energies on making her dream come true through her daughter, Bailey. It's a more difficult task than she ever envisaged, Bailey being pudgy and rather reluctant. Miranda's long-suffering husband Ray is a nurse, mostly because he failed epically as a doctor; he works more hours than he should as the Millers are deeply in debt because of the financial expenditures of the never-ending pageant parade. Ray's main distraction is gobbling various medications without knowing what they are, the unexpected effects providing much sought-after entertainment. Ray also works two jobs, and it is while fulfilling hospice duties that things snowball out of control.

PRETTY UGLY is most a biting satire on, obviously, children beauty pageants and their stage mothers, but Mr. Butler spares no one. Think of every preconceived notion, every stereotype associated with beauty pageants, and multiply tenfold: they're white trash, rednecks; the American Dream Miranda yearns for is the twenty-first century version, sorely distorted by the media, but she'll do her darndest to succeed. PRETTY UGLY is a screwball comedy of a book, and it is wildly funny. Nothing happens the way you expect it, there are twists of plots and turns of event the likes of which you could never imagine. The characters are eccentric, colourful, and even secondary characters are quite entertaining, mostly Miranda's mother Joan (pronounced Joanne!). She's a hilarious, misguided religious fanatic who means well, truly she does, but her conversations with Jesus Himself are not precisely what one would expect! But amidst all the zaniness and slapstick, let's not overlook Mr. Butler's superb writing and keen ear for dialogues. PRETTY UGLY is a fast-paced, very quick read that will have you laughing out loud!