It's a Mum's Life

Four rather different people register at an online community offering advice to mothers. The number of characters is quite confusing at first, but although they're all a bit two-dimensional, their circumstances are distinct enough for me to keep them separate in my mind, at least most of the time. The writing is good, the story quite nicely paced, with regular switches between each of the viewpoint characters.

Some quite serious issues are covered in the course of this book, and I found it quite difficult to put down at times, despite not finding any of the people particularly sympathetic.

Worth reading once if you like women's fiction. Apparently updated since it was first published in 2006 with the new title 'Love is a Secret'.

Longer show more review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/05/mumshome-by-sophie-king.html show less

Really enjoyed this one - deals with some of the grittier aspects of parenting, not just a light and fluffy read although it is very readable and not easy to put down.

A divorced single mother with a disabled daughter, a mother of three with a part time job and a husband she no longer trusts, a father (with an absent mother) struggling to cope with his two children and working from home and an a very young 'expectent mum' all register with mums@home website to find and give advice and sometimes to simply to unload.

I received this book as part as a book ring. I have never read Sophie King before and I was not let down by Mums@Home. I would describe this is as chick-lit, very good chick-lit.

Here is the Amazon synopsis:

Love, laughter, and logging on...Calling all mums! What would you do if your husband had a fling? Have you ever had to keep a terrible secret from your kids? Do you sometimes wish you had a life outside being a mum? Are you pregnant and alone? Caroline, Mark, Susan and Lisa are as different as the parenting problems they face and each has their own reasons for logging on to the Mums@Home website for the very first time. At first they are cynical about the site - how can faceless people possibly help or understand what they are going show more through? But as the weeks pass and their family problems escalate, each of them begins to realise that Mums@Home has become a lifeline - somewhere to go for advice, to be heard, to escape, or to belong...Sophie King captures the zeitgeist once again with this warm, moving and engaging look at modern parenting and finding friends.

This was very well written, I managed to read 200 pages in one sitting. I wanted to get to the end to see how everything would turn out, but when the book ended I wanted there to be more so I could see what was happening in their lives. King put in twists which I did not see coming, which added to the enjoyment of the read.

My favourite characters were in fact the children. Although I loved all the characters and engaged with them all, I found myself forming a soft spot for the children as they had to face difficulties in their adolescent as well as baring the problems their parents were facing.

The site seemed cool, just like this one! I like the idea of making new friends and coming for advice, a chat and friendship, which is why I'm on here, and one of the things I just loved about the book.

My only complaint was at the end of every chapter there were extracts from emails to people which were fragmented and sometimes unclear who they were aimed at and from.

A really enjoyable, fun, quick read.

9/10 show less

Was not my kind of book

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