The Bad Mother's Handbook [Import] [Paperback]

Kate Long (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2005

Three independent, prickly women living together in ex-Council housing sort out life and love. This story is about growing up at 17, facing life head-on at 33 and letting go at 81.

Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Advance Reading Copy (ARC) edition (2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330436201
• ISBN-13: 978-0330436205
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant Surprise, December 7, 2005

By 

S. A. Waggoner "pettacom" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bad Mother's Handbook: A Novel (Hardcover)

Don't be put off by the cliched title or the unexceptional bones of the story. What makes this book worthwhile is the author's ability to create distinctive characters, and her success in adding depth and bittersweet reality to an ordinary tale.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bad Mothers (who are real women) handbook, May 24, 2005

By 

TheIndianExpat "TheIndianExpat" (Asia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bad Mother's Handbook: A Novel (Hardcover)

Funny, despairing, real - if u have ever felt like a loser, winner and half way participant in life at the same time then this novel is for you. Simple, unpretentious, and surprisingly humorous, it traces a brief interlude in the lives of three women ( okay one is a girl) - all daughters, all mothers, the three related to each other - and the men in their lives, intermingled with their mistakes, memories and maudlin catharsis ...all of which build up to a wonderful, soppy, happy hormone releasing end!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A surprisingly entertaining read..., September 27, 2005

By 

marsha (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bad Mother's Handbook: A Novel (Hardcover)

The title, `The bad mother handbook', made me pick up this book because I sometimes feel like I am a bad mother. And I am pretty sure I am not the only one who feels this way sometimes. It's when our children pushes us to our limits that we react without thinking - in a humanly way that's full of flaws. In fact, even mothers are not without flaws.

However, despite the title, `The bad mother handbook', given to the book, this book is no self-help book or a guide of any kind, which was what I initially thought it was. It's a novel. It's a story about how three generations of mothers have come together in an understanding, how the past clouded the now and how the now can change the future.

The backdrop for this book was set in 1997, the year that the dearly beloved Princess Diana perished in a fatal car crash. It was also in this year that Nan (the grandmother) started showing signs of her age, Karen (the mother) discovers a secret that she never thought she wanted to find out about, and it is also during this year that Charlotte (the pregnant teen) is also about discover what it is to be a mother.

The continual swapping of storyline and outlook throughout the book was confusing for me in the beginning. I have to admit this, in the beginning, I was just leafing through the pages, disbelieving of the fact that I actually paid RM30+ to read all of this nonsensical stuff. Things that I already know very well, as a mother, thank you very much. Ironically, it was this swapping that got me hook later on in the book. So, essentially, in `The bad mother handbook', there is not ONE main character, but there are three leading ladies! Once you get past the first few chapters and start to understand the characters, you'll soon get into their lives and pray for them.

For Nan, it was difficult to understand the way her story was written because much of it was written in a kind of English that the English used to talk in. For Karen, it's a very today thing since Karen does live in my generation. Well, maybe she's a couple of years older than me (ahem!) but heck, I understand every single word that is written about her and the things that she is going through. For Charlotte, she's just a typical teenager who's just fuming mad because of her mom's behavior and refusal to be more relaxed about her. Charlotte was basically rebelling and acted outrageously because Karen was tuned out of her life. The mother and daughter stopped speaking to each other because they couldn't see eye to eye about almost everything! The moment one of them opened their mouths, the other picks it up as an argument. How it reminds me of my teenage years. Karen, in the meantime, is hung-up on the mistake that she has made in the past - particularly, in getting pregnant, getting married, getting divorced and missing out on her education, having to live through each day in a dreary mood in an awful job she hates!

Because of this mistake, she wants only the best for Charlotte and imagine what she felt when Charlotte fell into the very footstep she took - in getting pregnant? And the father of the child is less than responsible towards the pregnancy. In the meantime, Karen goes on a quest to discover her true lineage and Charlotte finds a new friend and best buddy in the most unlikely boy in the whole school. His devotion and friendship (and adoration) got her through most of the tough times written about very realistically in `The bad mother handbook'.

It's not as witty and page-turning as I thought it was going to be but all in all, Kate Long has written a truly well-loved book in the form of `The bad mother handbook'. It's definitely a good read but don't expect Kay Scarpetta stuff in there. read leisurely and you will soon see the true value of a book like `The bad mother handbook'. Well done, Kate Long.