The Bad Mother’s Handbook should not be mistaken for a handbook, or even a guide. In fact, this particular handbook is an amusing, satisfying read.
We are invited to view a year in the lives of Charlotte, her mother Karen, and dear old Nan. It’s 1997, and Charlotte is having an interesting year, to say the least. Her loser boyfriend gets her pregnant, her Mum finds out a family secret, and her Nan is plunging into the depths of dementia. To top it all off, Princess Di perishes in a car crash.
All in all, 1997 ain’t going that well.
On a first impression, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about The Bad Mother’s Handbook. Sorry, Kate Long! But, come 20 pages later, I couldn’t put the bloody thing down! The story continually swaps between the viewpoints of Karen, Nan and Charlotte. The swapping between their intertwined storylines becomes more complex, and builds up great tension as you wait to discover what will unfold.
Each change in character viewpoint is indicated with a change in font – for example, Nan’s sections are in a small, formal font. However, the different fonts for Karen and Charlotte’s sections are almost indistinguishable. It eventually became difficult to establish what was happening, and to whom.
That aside, the characters of Nan and Charlotte were utterly believable, and grew on me the more I read. Charlotte goes on a journey of self-discovery that is both heart wrenching and hilarious. Come the end of the book, I really liked Charlotte and her lovely friend Daniel. You couldn’t ask for a better boy!
Despite starting out on a fairly average note, I ended up racing through the book in record time. This book’s redeeming feature was a total cliché – it made me both laugh and cry. Not an easy feat!
The Bad Mother’s Handbook promotes understanding and forgiveness between families. Motherhood can be viewed from several different angles – I know I thought twice about things I’ve said to my Mum after reading this!
Love, honesty and reality are bundled together quite nicely, without being sickly sweet. This is a book for all women – mothers and daughters alike.
Clea Marshall
The Bad Mother’s Handbook
By Kate Long
Want to read this book? You can buy it online at Whitcoulls. Just click here
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be mistaken for a handbook, or even a guide. In fact, this particular handbook is an amusing, satisfying read.