Customer Reviews

My Life on a Plate

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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!

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comical novel is about an average housewife juggling a part-time job, the fact that her clothes are more than slightly out of date, and coming to terms with the fact that her husband is frequently not fullfilling his duities as a father, which sends her on her own journey of self-discovery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!

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.

My Life on a Plate was a very quick but still rewarding read. It the very funny look at the 8 year old marriage of Clara, a woman in her 30s, and the mother of two small boys. She has started to doubt whether in fact she is as happy as she has always assumed she is. She is surrounded by a very colourful cast of characters, both friends and family. Clara has always had some self-image problems but until now hasn't realised that her life in general is not quite so picture perfect. My only criticism of this book is that it wasn't long enough. India Knight writes both with wit and compassion and draws together a wonderful array of people who I think could have been expanded upon greatly into a much longer novel - more like a Marian Keyes novel, in fact. But if you like reading about British singletons, you'll enjoy this story about what can happen after they have met their Mr Rights and settled into marriage and parenthood.

I've had this book on my bookshelf for awhile, and finally decided to read it since I was in the mood for something light and quick. I am pleased to say that My Life on a Plate ended up being such fun to read. I thought the main character was hilarious, and her take on marriage and motherhood was as honest as it gets.

My Life on a Plate is more of a portrait than a novel. Author India Knight provides a winning character study of a wife and mother and the things that happen to her day-to-day. Clare Hutts is a part-time magazine writer who has been married to her husband, Richard, for the past eight years. And while their marriage doesn't seem so bad, Clare can't stop thinking that something is missing. Not kids -- they have two small boys -- and certainly not the fairy tale lifestyle -- financial security, a beautiful house, and working from home. Maybe it's the fact that Richard doesn't ever feed the boys breakfast, or perhaps it's because they aren't romantic anymore -- whatever the reason, Clare's journey throughout this novel is eye-opening at best.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Clare is a hilarious character, and her insights on marriage are as honest as they are funny. I felt the tone of the book was consistent throughout, and by the time the last page rolled around, I knew it couldn't end any other way. India Knight did an excellent job with this one, and I look forward to her future books.

My Life on a Plate is just terrific. It's completely hilarious, in the Bridget Jones, Getting Over It, laugh out loud vein and (here's the best part) it's not about a single woman. Clara, our heroine, is married, with two boys and wondering, am I happy?, is this all there is?, etc. Clara is extremely funny and makes us laugh at all the things we moms of young children chuckle about anyway (you know, those other moms who have it all together, how do they do it?, the unsupportive husband vis-a-vis parenting, etc.). Clara is an extremely likable narrator, trying to be a good wife and mother and keeping us amused all the way. But what does it mean, My Life On a Plate? One day, Clara looks down at a meal she is about to eat. It's a little congealed, not really that appetizing, when it really should be exciting her. She realizes, that's it, it's her life on a plate, shouldn't she be a little more excited about her life, shouldn't it be more appetizing? Those are the questions that bother her throughout the novel as she goes about being wife, mother, friend, daughter. I really enjoyed this one. I have been in search of something completely hilarious for months and have finally found it. The characters and dialogue are very funny and it is a truly enjoyable read. Have fun with this one.

Clara Hutt is 33 years old and raising two kids and married to Robert. But she soon realizes that things aren't suppose to be how they were suppose to be.

Clara feels that things with Robert aren't as good as she had expected. Robert spends him time listening to music and not paying much attention to his children. Clara is sick of being the one who has to take care of the children and do everything while Robert does nothing.

When Clara realizes that she might have to change some things she tries to but realizes that Robert just isn't noticing them and it makes her feel worse.

This book was a quick read, the only part I didn't like about it was the how short the time frame was. Only a few days or week. Overall I can't wait to see what else this author will write.

There's something about British thirty-something women novels I just love--maybe they're sassier than their American counterparts, or something. Anyway, this story about Claire's life and her attempts to balance her marriage, children, and career rings very true and doesn't resort to cliches or whiny behavior on her part. It gets major points for unpredictability as well. I especially loved "What would Madonna do?"

I first purchased this book in 2002 in London and just finished re-reading it (a bad habit of mine, I keep my books close like old friends). This is one of my all-time favorite, laugh-out-loud, chick-lit books. Readers should totally be able to identify with Clara, her wish to lose a few pounds, her fondness for wine and her endearing self-doubt.

I highly recommend India Knight's other book, "Don't You Want Me?", a great read that actually made me laugh harder than "My Life On a Plate." I will never forget the heroine's sexual encounter w/ an aging, swinging "tiger." You have to read it!

I LOVE this book!

"No children would ever be born if one approached the whole subject with any kind of logic."

India Knight must be a mother. There is no other way she could have voiced such honest truths in this book of motherhood, marriage, and the endless carreer juggling.

"He made me a mother and I will always be grateful; he could murder me now and I'd still say thank you for that. But then he took something away from me: his desire; my old self."

For any wife, wondering who she married. For any mother who wouldn't trade it for the world. And for any woman who misses the girl she used to be... this book is for you.