This Little Mommy Stayed Home: A Novel [Paperback]

Samantha Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2009

The Mother of all Motherhood novels.

In this riotously funny, ruefully honest, and irresistibly warmhearted debut, Samantha Wilde writes about one new mother who discovers the wonders and terrors of motherhood—one hilarious crisis at a time. For new moms, potential moms-to-be, and anyone who just wants to (wisely) live the experience vicariously…

New mom Joy McGuire hasn’t changed her sweatpants since her baby was born. Of course she’s crazy about her newborn son; it’s her distracted, work-obsessed husband and his impossible mother she can’t stand. Joy turns to her own mom for support, but she’s too busy planning her fourth wedding to a suspicious self-help guru. Sure, Joy’s a woman on the brink, but it’s nothing a little sleep, sanity, and chocolate can’t fix.

Until her old college boyfriend shows up at their ten-year reunion. The one she was still in love with when she married her husband. It must be the lack of sleep, because Joy is starting to think she might have ended up with the wrong man. Not to mention she’s obsessed with her sexy yoga instructor, who might just be interested in her. Joy used to be single, skinny, and able to speak in complete sentences, but who is she now? As she’s trying to figure that out, her husband goes missing….

Frank, bawdy, and full of keenly self-aware observations, this novel tells the story of one new mother, three men, one marriage, and the baby love that keeps us up at night

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

New mother Joy McGuire, the put-upon heroine of this mixed mom-com, considers herself a martyr: all her body parts are either sagging or swelling (conditions she describes in great detail), she has an annoying mother-in-law, her husband spends all his time trying to save the private school where he's headmaster, her mother is marrying a man who can't possibly be as saintly as Joy's long-dead father, she suspects she missed the boat by not marrying her old college boyfriend, and she's lusting after her manipulative yoga instructor. Fortunately for Joy, her comfortable suburban New York friends are willing to discuss her woes at length. For those who enjoy soliloquies about poopy diapers, sore nipples and reproductive anatomy, Joy is an amusing character, though her one-note self-absorption can become grating. Wilde, a yoga instructor and mother of two young children, writes with an authenticity that will both entertain and irritate.
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Review

"Here's a talent test: when a narrator's doldrums make a reader laugh out loud. Samantha Wilde's inkwell must be filled with truth serum because this brave and funny book gets the postpartum peaks and valleys so very, winningly, right."—Elinor Lipman, author of The Pursuit of Alice Thrift

"[This] is the funniest novel I've read in a long, long time. What a treat! Mothers everywhere deserve this book." —Ellen Meister, author of The Smart One

"Samantha Wilde is the irreverent, knowing, laugh-out-loud, brutally honest but most treasured best friend that every new mommy craves and every reader relishes. They should issue this smart, hilarious novel along with newborn onesies and nursing pads."—Pamela Redmond Satran, author of Babes in Captivity

“Riotously hilarious, unabashedly honest and positively impossible to put down. Samantha Wilde’s debut is a must read for all moms and non-moms alike.” —Jessica Brody, author of The Fidelity Files

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385342667
• ISBN-13: 978-0385342667
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,084,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Samantha Wilde wrote her first novel resting in bed with a lap top and a bag of chocolates while her infant son napped. Of course she didn't start writing until he slept through the night because before that, she couldn't think, let alone write.

Born in Northampton, Mass and raised in Williamstown and Nantucket, Mass, Samantha attended Concord Academy, Smith College (with a brief stint at Wellesley College), Yale Divinity School, The New Seminary, and the Kripalu School of Yoga. Before full-time motherhood, she taught full-time yoga and worked as a minister.

What she loves above all else--next to chocolate--are her children. She's passionate about mothering, depsite its tedious moments, and loves to connect with other mothers, as well as non-mothers. She likes those people too!

She lives with her husband, a professor of chemical engineering, and two young childen, a son and a daughter, in Western Mass, where she still uses nap times to write. She is the daughter of novelist Nancy Thayer. She blogs about her life with books and babies at wildemama.blogspot.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I'd had this book!, July 3, 2009

A Kid's Review

This review is from: This Little Mommy Stayed Home: A Novel (Paperback)

I love this wild, funny book. It reminds me what it was like to love my new baby more than anything in the world. Back in the ancient days when I had my children, we just didn't talk about about aches, maternal worries, and the insanity caused by lack of sleep. It also reminds me of The Vagina Monologues, with its honest and often searing honesty about the female body.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humor and Depth, July 11, 2009

By 

Sarah Evans (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Little Mommy Stayed Home: A Novel (Paperback)

This book was an accessible and escapist read, which I read very quickly. It has a humorist approach to heavy themes about marriage and parenting that very few people seem to talk about. I think mothers should read this book to realize they are not alone, and non-mothers/parents should read this book for some much-needed insight into the motherhood experience (there is a lot of judgment out there). All will smile throughout, and finish it in just a few days.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Put Down, July 10, 2009

By 

Devon Kelting "Devon" (MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: This Little Mommy Stayed Home: A Novel (Paperback)

After spending the day with two toddlers I am completely exhausted and immediately fall asleep at night when I attempt to read. This is the first book in three years that I have actually breezed right through. I have thoroughly enjoyed the humor, which often causes me to laugh out loud, and the authors ability to so honestly and bodly capture the joy and despair of raising a child. It is a must read for all mom's and soon to be mom's.