The Yummy Mummy [Hardcover]

Polly Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2006

In the tradition of Little Earthquakes, Babyville and I Don't Know How She Does It: the effervescent, canny, and downright delightful debut of Polly Williams, a spirited new voice in women's fiction.

Amy Crane's daughter, the exquisite and sweet-tempered Evie, is six months old. any Amy -- who's trying to decide whether to resume her high-pressure job in PR -- adores her. But these days, Amy doesn't exactly adore herself.

Even worse, the whole time she's feeling invisible and about as attractive as a barnyard animal, Amy suspects that Evie's father, Joe, is having an affair. Then Amy meets Alice, who seems to have this mommy thing down: She's single-girl-slender, for one thing, with groomed eyebrows, a smooth forehead, and killer clothes. Plus she has a sex life. In short, she's a Yummy Mummy, one of a new breed who manage to make motherhood look positively sexy. Under Alice's tutelage, Amy discovers that she's got some yumminess of her own. Joe takes notice, as does her handsome Pilates instructor. But once Amy's libido awakens from its extended slumber, a whole new set of problems develops.

Filled with acute perceptions of the challenges faced by new moms, as well as the uniquely terrifying landscape of new motherhood, The Yummy Mummy is as endearing -- and as refreshing -- as a baby who sleeps through the night.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

London-based journalist Williams writes for In Style, and her debut novel features flawlessly chic celebrity moms who go deep into Gwennie-and-Apple competitive territory. Thirty-one-year-old Amy Crane, six months postpartum, is stuck between two groups of mommy friends. On one side are the women from her childbirth class, dedicated mothers whose chubby figures and comfy clothes declare, "We now put someone else's needs before our vanity." On the other side is Amy's new friend Alice, a so-called "yummy mummy," who, with her similarly slim and elegant West London friends, takes Amy on as her newest project. Soon, Amy is caught up in a whirlwind of designer shoes, fad diets, Pilates classes (complete with a troublingly handsome instructor) and Botox injections, all of which alienate Joe, her longtime boyfriend and the father of her daughter. Amy's misadventures are, for the most part, endearing, and her comic attempts to regain her pre-pregnancy lifestyle stay just this side of satire. Williams weighs in on nearly every maternal controversy (from extended breastfeeding to the return to paid employment), further prolonging Amy's inevitable decision as to the kind of mummy she wants to be. Fortunately, Williams's wit and Amy's appealing foibles will make readers stick around for her occasionally laborious journey. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"This peek at the contradictory heart of modern mothering is clever, funny and very true." -- In Style UK

"Witty, moving, beautifully written." -- Wendy Holden, author of Bad Heir Day

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (December 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401302319
• ISBN-13: 978-1401302313
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,388,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying, more deeply-layered than post-baby chick lit, February 19, 2007

By 

Sherri Caldwell "RebelHousewifedotcom" (Atlanta, GA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yummy Mummy (Hardcover)

"Nothing shakes one out of a shoe-centered singleton apolitical existence quite like a baby..."

So laments Amy Crane, our main character and a newly-mummified singleton (living with the father of her 6-month-old baby, Evie, but not yet committed to marriage), formerly a fashion- and career-obsessed girl-about-London. Vaguely Bridget Jones, post-baby? Maybe a little, but The Yummy Mummy is definitely a more satisfying, deeply-layered, grown-up tale, about finding one's place in the universe as a mother; reconciling relationships with self, post-baby body, the father of the baby, and, in Amy's case, her mother and family history of abandonment and divorce.

The writing is clever, with humor and angst to which any mother can relate. Readers will appreciate all the familiar events, phases, situations, innermost thoughts, feelings and insecurities as Amy evolves from New Mummy to Yummy Mummy...

"Do these women not work? Evidently not. There is no sign of any tailored office clothes. No, these women are either full-time yummies or, like me, on maternity leave, having a sabbatical from working life. If the latter is the case, why aren't they frumpy and disoriented and unable to engage in witty adult repartee? Was there some prenatal class in postpartum glamour that I skipped? And how come they all look like they know what they're doing? Perhaps I am the only mother in London who feels like she's muddling through, pretending."

Ultimately, Amy finds, or, rather, is discovered by, a guide and mentor in Alice, a devastatingly gorgeous and with-it Yummy Mummy, who takes Amy under her wing and into the rarified club of Yummy Mummies: A richly-rendered group of women who seem to have the mommy thing down. Amy learns how to get back into shape, how to dress, how to shop, where to go, what to do, how to be a Yummy Mummy: simply fabulous, in all aspects of appearance, anyway. In the process, she learns Yumminess is not really all it appears or all its cracked up to be.

-- Sherri Caldwell, Humor Columnist & Reviewer at RebelHousewife.com

Co-Author, The Rebel Housewife Rules: To Heck With Domestic Bliss!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read for New Moms, March 28, 2007

By 

Brette Sember "author "How to Parent With... (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yummy Mummy (Hardcover)

Londoner Amy Crane becomes unexpectedly pregnant and then finds that pregnancy leaves her unexpectedly frumpy. Envying all the MILFs she encounters, she eventually starts on a self-improvement kick which has a negative effect on her love life. This book takes an honest look at what it's like to be home with a baby and a body you no longer recognize, suddenly cut off from friends and work. Amy's struggles with self-esteem will be familiar to many new moms and the self-acceptance and courage she finds will inspire many.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yum, March 1, 2007

By 

Sunny in So. Cal. (So. Cal.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Yummy Mummy (Hardcover)

This book made me laugh, made me cry & occupied my pregnant brain while escaping my toddler in the bath....Easy on "The Mommy Brain" entertaining reading... if you are considering that type of book then I would highly recomend Yummy Mummy!