Having It and Eating It [Paperback]

Sabine Durrant (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Timewarner (2004)
• ASIN: B0015RZ6DI
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a fun sassy read!, May 22, 2003

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Having It and Eating It (Paperback)

This is a fun book! It's a guaranteed read to take your mind off of your troubles! This is my first Sabine Durrant book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't read it to pick at the moral issues ~~ I read it to have a break from nonstop packing and moving woes. And it's a perfect escape!

Maggie gave up her career to stay home to raise her two little boys ~~ her boys with her partner, Jake. One day she runs into her schoolhood chum and realized that her own life isn't as together as Claire's. Then to top it off, she suspects Jake is having an affair with Claire ~~ and off this book goes. With hilarious tales of two little boys running amuck in the house and with other people, Maggie begins a journey into self-awareness. And this is a fun hilarious read!

At first Maggie puts herself down for being a stay-at-home mom ~~ engrossed with recipes and childcare and local gossip. Then as the story progresses, she begins to realize that she is the envy of the women in her life. And she begins to grow up!

This is a must-read for all women ~~ regardless of their marital status or children-status. I think moms with very young children can relate to Maggie's dilemmas with the babies ~~ but everyone can enjoy the stories. Durrant writes with a flair and humor ~~ you can't help but fall in love with the characters and keep on turning the pages. This is the perfect summer read!

5-22-03

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stale cake, June 28, 2003

By 

Emma Kaufmann (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Having It and Eating It (Paperback)

This isn't a bad book, but it isn't a very good one either. Yes, I have kids so I can concede that her observations about chaotic childcare are accurate. Accurate, yes, but not original, thought provoking or more to the point, funny. Because this writer seems to have taken a stab at comic writing. My advice: Don't do it, you're simply not funny enough. Sabine Durrant is certainly no Marian Keyes.

I kept reading this thinking it would pick up. It didn''t. The plot didn't really go anywhere and the ending was anticlimactic. I guess I mainly read it because I'm a UK girl living in the US and like reading about England when I feel homesick. But this book was like a long forgotten eclair you find at the bottom of your fridge, looks tasty but ends up tastingt kind of stale.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am Maggie Owen!, March 12, 2003

By 

SwimMama "BestFamilyAdventures.com" (Orcutt, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Having It and Eating It (Hardcover)

Reviewing readers who have no children can not POSSIBLY understand this book. No offense. Neither could I have two years ago before the birth of my first child. Now home with two, I COMPLETELY relate with Maggie Owen, our narrator and protagonist.

Durrant clearly has experienced motherhood, perhaps even stay-at-home motherhood. It's a different world. It's stifling, but fulfilling in its own wonderful ways as she explains so beautifully.

I called friends and family at times to read excerpts that struck me just so. Even staggered down the hall (no, not drinking...laughing so hard I could hardly walk) to read bits to my husband/the father of our children.

If you haven't had kids yet, wait to read the book...no...don't...this'll give you a taste of what IS to come.