My Life on a Plate [Hardcover]

India Knight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

Clara Hutt (known to herself as Jabba the) is a ripe size 16 with a secret liking for kitten heels and see-through organza tops. She is 33 with a husband and two small boys, but some days she wakes up with the sneaky feeling that her life isn't all it should be. Her 6-year-old thinks he has nits; all the other mothers at the school gate are perfectly groomed but Clara is in pyjama bottoms. Clara, like millions of other women, is going through the motions of responsible adulthood, and only clinging on by the skin of her teeth. And just why is her husband so perpetually mysterious?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clara Hutt, 33, speaks for middle-class marital ennui as she reflects on her life, her indifferent husband, Robert, her two lice-ridden young boys, and her "roomy four-bedroomed Victorian terraced" London home and asks, "Is that it, then?" With a sense of humor that ranges from witty and raucous to simpering and mean-spirited, British first-time author Knight relates the ribald story of a modern woman and her quest for happiness. Clara, whose fragmented family consists of a mother who's fond of accumulating ex-husbands, a wealthy but distant father, two spoiled stepsisters and a listless stepbrother, resolves to have a "nuclear" family. After attaining this conventional goal, however, she discovers that marriage is more boring than blissful. The arduous rigmarole of "hoovering," chauffeuring, cooking and compromising leaves Clara unsatisfied. She tends to complain, self-deprecate and obsess on trivialities while comparing herself to her friends: Tamsin, who is single, unburdened and prowling for romance; Stella the "pottery cat," a rustic single mother who bakes her own bread; Naomi, the model housewife who feeds her kids gourmet lunches and manages to keep her home impeccably clean. Simmering with envy, longing for affection (and a little bit of "swooning"), Clara grows restless and seeks solace in the admiring eyes of an unlikely character. Although Knight's lively narrative entertains while animating many of the common misconceptions people have about marriage, the reader should be prepared to suspend belief for the final course of this chatty tale. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Knight, whose weekly London Sunday Times columns are filled with wry social commentary, has joined the Bridget Jones school of novelists. With less-than-perfect grace, our heroine, Clara Hutt, is dealing with the mini-traumas of married life, including juggling freelance writing and parenting. Beset with a domineering but oh-so-chic mother, ditzy stepsisters, befuddled friends, and a mostly absent husband, Clara worries about her weight, the slide of her wardrobe from elegance to comfort, marital infidelity, and recovering from a disastrous interview in which she managed not only to insult an up-and-coming dance star but also to give him head lice. Despite her self-doubts, Clara proves to have sufficient resiliency to deal with the end of her marriage and the beginning of a new relationship. The witty commentary on middle-class mores and humor make this slight novel an enjoyable read and saves it from being simply a clone. Recommended for public libraries.DJan Blodgett, Davidson Coll. Lib., NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: San Val (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417716983
• ISBN-13: 978-1417716982
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could this book be any funnier?!, November 16, 2000

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: My Life on a Plate (Hardcover)

Could this book possibly be any funnier? I couldn't stop laughing. My Life on a Plate is filled with the kind of ironic, wicked and self-deprecating humor that I love. The comic timing is extremely precise. Clara Hutt is one of the best heroines in contemporary literature.

This isn't the usual single-at-thirty-living-in-London novel. It isn't about single life at all. My Life on a Plate is about life after Happily Ever After. Is marriage all that's cracked up to be? Will marriage be the end of one's loneliness? Clara will tell you a thing or two about being a smug married woman with two kids.

This is a hilarious and painfully honest book that will crack you up till the last page. It is, without a doubt, a tour de force! You mustn't hesitate to read this book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MY LIFE ON A PLATE: Delicious to the last bite!!!, May 22, 2001

By 

Amanda - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Life on a Plate (Hardcover)

Meet Clara: Thirty-three, married eight years, two children, slightly overweight, and quite possibly one of the funniest and most true-to-life characters ever written. Based in London, this very comical novel is about an average housewife juggling a part-time job, the fact that her clothes are more than slightly out of date, and coming to terms with the fact that her husband is frequently not fullfilling his duities as a father, which sends her on her own journey of self-discovery to answer one question:Is she really happy? For the answer you must read it and find out. From start to finish this book is outragously hysterical! I couldn't reccomend better!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very fun read!, December 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: My Life on a Plate (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this light comedy. Clara is married (NOT a book about singletons, for a change!), and views her husband as somewhat of a mystery. She's happy and yet . . . her marriage has not really brought her a happily ever after. It doesn't help that her neurotic mother nags her about her weight (and how wonderful to have a plump heroine who really doesn't give a fig if she is overweight), and that she feels she has to compete with super moms who get all dolled up just to drop their kids off at school (with gourmet lunches and home baked goodies, natch). Clara is funny and likeable, and I really identified with her. Every other book about twenty or thirtysomething women seems to deal with finding Mr. Right. This book is about what to do when you've already found him . . . and life still isn't quite what you expected.