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Chic
lit for mums
This New Year pour yourself a strong tea/coffee/gin and settle
back with our choice of the hottest 'mum lit' novels in the bookshops! Sam
Pope did and here are her reviews!
Molly and Max have the sort of relationship we all dream about - lots
of froth and bubbles. However, deep down, Molly would prefer a cosy night
in and baked beans on toast. When she discovers she's pregnant at the
ripe old age of 39 she's delighted. Max, however, is less than thrilled
and he does a runner, leaving Molly without a partner, without a job and
out of luck. The only option is to downgrade from her lovely flat in the
city to a more modest place in the suburbs. Her old friends think she's
flipped and moved over to the 'smug married' brigade, while her new, married
acquaintances treat her as a threat. The final straw is adding the Baby
on Board sticker to her car - does this, once and for all, mean her love
life is finally over?
This second novel by India Knight takes a frank look at life as a single
mum … as a wealthy single mum though. The heroine Stella de la Croix has
two ex-husbands, a marvellous house in a stylish part of London, fashionable
clothes, an angelic toddler (cow) and an agreeable, although ginger, lodger.
Stella admits she's pretty happy with her lot in life apart from the lack
of sex. "I have no-one to sin with!" Thus starts a serious of ghastly
one-night stands with a perma-tanned plastic surgeon, a DJ and a thirty-something
man who acts like a 17-year-old. After all these experiments, she decides
that what she really wants is a long-term relationship … but who will
be the lucky guy?
India Knight's biting humour is hilarious in this novel as she lashes
out at the dating scene for single mums and the unbelievably PC mums at
her local playgroup, where the most popular children's names are Ichabod
and Perdita. A good tale to lose yourself in for a couple of hours but,
unlike her other book My Life on a Plate
, this one should definitely put you off being single again!
Julia suddenly finds herself a single mum of two teenagers after discovering
her husband's affair with Rhiannon de Laney. After initially feeling apprehensive
of her new situation, Julia gradually realises the benefits it brings.
Now she's single, she can meet new people and make new friends, change
her hated hairstyle, get a new wardrobe, resurrect her photography career
and travel with a boy band around the UK. In short, she finds herself
again as a woman instead of defining herself as a mother or wife. This
book is primarily light-hearted in tone and content but within its humour
are some elements of surprise, plus a good twist in the tale!
Stay-at-home mum Carla is devoted to her two major projects in life -
her two mischievous sons and her talented but naïve designer husband Tom.
She runs their lives through strict schedules, plans and lists while spending
very little time on herself. She is content with this controlled way of
life till friends announce their plans to have a Scandinavian-style 'divorce-lite':
living but no longer loving together. Shaken up by this announcement,
Carla starts to wonder what marriage is really all about and whether she
is satisfied with her relationship. A drunken night, some flamenco lessons,
and a nude charity calendar are amongst the many surprises her future
has in store - but how will Tom and Carla's marriage carry on? A fun and
intelligent read.
Rachel Johnson has been entertaining readers of the Daily Telegraph for
several years with her tales of life as a 'yummy mummy' in West London
and on Exmoor. They have now been compiled into a diary, covering events
from her dog's birthday in January and the appropriate 'Paws-the-Parcel'
game to the school sports day in June (where mummies wear sports bras
and running shorts and carry high energy drinks). The diary is, in essence,
a summary of life in a middle-class professional household, with nannies,
posh schools, diets and attention to etiquette but Rachel Johnson's self-deprecating
style makes this an irresistible read.
Bridget Jones would be envious of Clara ('Jabba the') Hutt, apart from
the size of her bottom. She has everything the modern woman is supposed
to crave - a successful husband, a house, two children and the ability
to call herself a 'smug married'. However, Clara's not convinced that
this is all there is to life. As she takes her sons to and from school,
attempts to cook nutritious meals and insults interviewees for her work
as a freelance magazine writer, she can't help thinking there ought to
be more to life than this, especially when her fashion editor husband
seems reluctant to spend more than five minutes with his perfect family.
Surrounded by successful singletons, including her glamorous, eccentric
mother and her string of exes and vampish mothers hiding under M&S clothes
Clara starts looking beyond her family and pondering what she's missing
out on by being married.
India Knight's first novel is a welcome antidote to parenting manuals
extolling the perfect mother. It's great to read that there are others
out there who still have a passion for kitten heels and hangovers once
in a while. V v funny.
Successful, attractive Bella has a well ordered life … until she decides
to have a child. The morning sickness and mood swings clash with her city-slicker
lifestyle and Bella finds herself struggling to cope with the changes
both inside and outside her body. After the birth, Bella still expects
to be able to be a model employee while coping with the demands of breastfeeding,
night wakings and nappy changes. The underlying question in the book is
can a woman still get climb the ladder of success while being a mother
- if only we all knew the answer! Carmed Reid explores the challenges,
joys and tribulations of being a working mum-to-be and mum in an honest
and frank manner, so this should appeal to any of you who ask yourselves
the same question in the middle of the night at home or the middle of
the day at work.
Another 'mum lit' book that features a number in the title - inevitable
we suppose. This one concerns Anna, who has a steady job, good social
life and a new-found freedom after breaking up with hippy Nic. Motherhood
is far from her mind so it's strange when it suddenly starts making a
presence in her life - with her best friend Laura's announcement that
she's pregnant and Nic discovering that he has a teenage son from a past
relationship. When Anna does meet her Mr Right, one thing is most definitely
wrong - he comes with a baby daughter. Can Anna really continue in a relationship
with a baby in tow? Broken nights, a toy-strewn floor and the havoc of
children's parties start to take their toll … until the blonde, beautiful
mother Fiona reappears on the scene…
Chic
lit for mums 
Don't You Want Me?
Julia Gets a Life 
Keeping
Mum 
The
Mummy Diaries 
My
Life on a Plate 
Three
in a Bed 
Two's
Company 
