Monday 11 March 2013

Books Read: Laura Kemp - Mums Like Us

Attention, all lardies!

Are you sick to death of mum-upmanship at the school gates?

Have you had your fill of Mother Superiors who lose their baby weight in six weeks while you're still carrying yours years later?

Do you crave the company of like-minded mums who will admit motherhood smells not of roses but of dirty nappies?

Well, look no further than Mums Like Us, a weekly group where knackered mums can let rip about kids, husbands and work.

So join our rejection of perfection, and fight for 'good enough' parenting. And drink. And lots of cake.

Stella Smith
Mums Like Us Chairwoman

Stella Smith is your steroetypical mum who's trying to do fifty million things at once and failing so sets up a group for like-minded women called 'Mums Like Us' where they could celebrate the fact that they're ordinary women and will never be 'Mother Superiors' - women who never step outside of their front door without looking perfect from head to toe. 

Soon their small quiet group becomes big news and Stella is thrust into the media spotlight with invites to meet the prime minister, appear on television shows, offered a makeover as well as being invited to the US to meet the First Lady.  But will this new found fame change Stella or will she remain happy with her lot? 

I found this a really hard book to get into mainly due to the way it's been written, the majority of the book is narrated in newsletters from Stella to the group.  But there's also emails from her husband Matt to his 'Dads United' football teamates as well as emails to his brother which I actually enjoyed reading more than I did reading Stella's rambles.  

If I'm honest I wasn't really sure about how I'd get on with Mums Like Us not being a mum myself and have to confess that it's the hardest review I've had to write as I really didn't enjoy the book at all.  I don't think it had anything to do with me not being a mum, as I've been around enough friends and their kids to get a feel of how much organisation it takes to sometimes just get outside the front door, but think it's just I found the whole storyline and the way it's been written a bit bizarre.

Despite this book not being a keeper for me I'd still like to thank Philippa at Arrow for sending me a copy to review.

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