sMothering [Paperback]

Wendy French (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2004

A smart, fast, funny take on mother-daughter relationships, boyfriend-girlfriend disasters, and the career-girl blues.

Meet Claire McLeod, a twenty-something American girl living in Portland, Oregon. Claire's got big problems: her mother's a tyrant, her sister's a lesbian, and her father's in Omaha.

Claire's peaceful, if dull, existence is shattered when her mother arrives in Portland for an unexpected--and unwelcome--visit. Armed with a sharp tongue, a critical eye, and enough Weekender Wear to make anyone nervous, Mom has mysteriously left Dad at home in the Midwest. It's not enough that Claire's job as a telephone survey-taker is excruciatingly irritating and her boyfriend has dumped her. No, now, embarrassed by her dead-end job and flatlining love life, she must also bear the weight of Mom's critical eagle eye while trying to close the rift between her mother and her sister, solve the riddle of her missing father, climb a shaky corporate ladder, stalk a cute coworker, reinvent herself, and maybe--just maybe--find a little happiness.

By turns tender and insightful--but always hilariously funny--sMothering is a novel you can't put down.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Claire McLeod works at a lousy telephone survey job, has just been dumped by the perfect guy, is unfairly suspected of having an affair with her toadlike boss and has a refrigerator whose contents resemble a science experiment gone awry. To make matters worse, her overbearing mother appears on the doorstep of her tiny Portland, Ore., one-bedroom, having mysteriously left Claire's eternally patient father back home in Omaha. While it's nice having her laundry done and her linoleum scrubbed with a toothbrush, 23-year-old Claire could do without the constant digs at her appearance, her apartment, her faltering career path and her single status; she'd gladly skip the dozens of embarrassing phone messages left with the office's smirking receptionist. But even worse is trying to negotiate a reconciliation between her mother and her once-favored older sister, now divorced and living with her girlfriend. Though Claire is determined to get her life back under control, it's nearly impossible with the maternal force of nature living on her couch. Despite her scattered life and hand-wringing self-doubt, Claire is surprisingly mature for a post-adolescent, and female readers of all ages should relate to her great love for her family, as well as to her occasional desire to throw them all out a window. French's novel stands out from its fluffy chick-lit sisters with snappy humor ("What looks good?" Claire's enamored boss asks at lunch. "The employment section," she thinks), charged family dynamics and a plot twist that will throw readers for a loop. Though there's nothing new here, this debut is warm, tender and more substantive than most of its type.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Twenty-three-year-old Claire feels "bitter and jaded" in Portland, Oregon. Her telemarketing job offers little satisfaction, she has few friends, and her boyfriend has dumped her. So when Claire's overbearing mother arrives for an unannounced visit, Claire is loathe to open her cramped apartment and lackluster life to her mother's criticism. Even worse, Claire must act as mediator between her lesbian sister and her homophobic mother. As the visit progresses, though, Claire's long-suffering tolerance of her mother turns into mild astonishment as her job, love life, and family bonds transform, partially under her mother's influence. With its hot-pink cover, wacky mom, and cynical, young female narrator, French's first novel fits neatly into the formula shared by similar witty, single city-girl novels. But that familiarity shouldn't deter readers weary of the genre. French asks deeper questions about trust and boundaries while deftly offering up all the usual delights: acid wit, farcical misunderstandings and plot twists, and a few existential questions about moving up versus selling out. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765347032
• ISBN-13: 978-0765347039
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,994,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too good to pass up!!!, January 31, 2005

By 

Diane Moore - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: sMothering (Hardcover)

I'm surprised I hadn't heard much about this book before. I had always seen it at my local library and the pink cover and picture with a girl snarling out the window at her mother was too difficult to avoid---it's obvious that most of us will be able to identify with this character!

Claire's mom comes to visit out of nowhere and decides to stay, uninvited, on her couch. Claire is less than thrilled because her life is a mess already: She recently had been broken up with by the *perfect* man, she hates her job, she has no friends to speak of, and she and her mom clearly have issues. Her mother nitpicks incessantly, leaves personal and highly private notes with Claire's secretary, and still can't accept the fact that her other daughter Stephanie, is a lesbian, even though everyone else has.

Can she survive a week or two with this woman staying on her couch without strangling her?

Wendy French's quick wit and fun dialogue made me want to read more! It was a fun read with realistic characters that you will remember!

Recommended!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Read!, July 14, 2007

By 

Patience Gray (Valparaiso, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: sMothering (Paperback)

This book is so funny and a quick read. I couldn't put it down! Highly recomended!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Read, January 10, 2005

By 

Dianna "Sullynation" - See all my reviews

This review is from: sMothering (Paperback)

This was a really fun book! Just the right speed for the story, and a wonderful look at how mixed up families can be at times. I enjoyed the pace of the book and the writing style. There were parts that made me giggle and I even gasped at one revelation in the story.

All in all a good read, I will read more by this author.