I love Jilly Cooper – her Rutshire Chronicles were pretty much my constant companions throughout my teens and twenties – and was so pleased to be granted access to read this collection of her journalism. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The book features a selection of Cooper’s journalism covering the period she wrote columns for The Times (roughly from the end of the 1960s to the early 1980s). As expected from Cooper, it features meditations on sex – the raunchy nature of her fiction books is well-known – but also mid-life, family, pets, domesticity, relationships and plenty more. It is also packed with humour – there’s lots of self-deprecation, witty turns of phrase, puns and plenty of Cooper’s ability to see the ridiculous in situations.
Modern retelling of ‘Pride and Prejudice’? Written by Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the brilliant ‘Prep’ (amongst many other fab books)? Sign me up!
I was definitely intrigued about this book and it has been vaguely on my radar for a few years (it was published in 2016). When it popped up as an audiobook suggestion on BorrowBox, I thought I needed to give it a try.
How on earth could ‘Pride and Prejudice’, with its Georgian mores and sensibilities, be dragged into modern-day America? I had to find out.
I’ve had a life-long fascination with the Greek myths which probably stemmed from the (at the time terrifying) ‘Clash of the Titans’ film that made up a chunk of my 80s childhood – very much like Haynes herself, it turns out!
Nowadays, my job as an English teacher sees me teaching Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘The World’s Wife’ so I’ve become a lot more au fait with the details of the women in the ancient texts – especially Medusa, Penelope and Eurydice – which is what brought me to Haynes’ excellent book.
It’s been a surprisingly busy reading month – helped by school half term holidays and the desire to clear some of my proofs before I embark on NetGalley November (more of that in a bit!)
This month, I’ve read 14 books which puts me on 115/100 on my Goodreads Challenge.
Thanks to Random Things Tours and Monoray/Octopus Publishing Group for including me on the blog tour and for my review copy of the book. As always, opinions are entirely my own.
This book was published in hardback on 30th September, 2021.
From the Publisher:
Known for her sharp, witty and surreal view on everyday life, Lucy shares the unpredictable craziness of being a mum in this brilliant and laugh-out-loud ‘mumoir’.
Mums everywhere will recognise the madness of it all. From when Lucy was hospitalised with indigestion in her third trimester (blame the burrito), to when she was this close to slapping her hypno-birthing instructor, to finding herself drinking a whole pint of custard in one sitting.
‘Drinking Custard’ also captures Lucy’s marriage to comedian Jon, as they navigate Lucy’s raging pregnancy hormones and balk at pram prices together.
My Review:
Although my own children are older than Lucy’s daughter (this book covers the period from pregnancy to starting school), this early period of parenthood is definitely a time in my life that I haven’t forgotten. As I also love a funny book, I immediately signed up for the blog tour.
And I’m so glad I did!
Once I got beyond the fact that I had totally mis-identified Lucy Beaumont (in my head, she was actress Lucy Punch – whoops!) and then realised that she is married to comedian Jon Richardson, I was happy to immerse myself in their childrearing experiences.
To be honest, I was sold from pretty much the first page when there was that Elizabeth Stone quotation about having children being like your heart walking around outside your body. I’ve always thought this was a creepy idea, so I loved Lucy’s comment – ‘Nice quote, but you’d die if that happened, Liz’. Ahh, it seems we are on the same wavelength from the start…
The book is chronological, covering pregnancy, birth, babyhood/that horrific sleep deprived bit, the toddler years and then coming up to school age. There are footnotes along the way in which Jon Richardson puts across his side of the story and these form a funny commentary – but the lion’s share of the storytelling is done by Lucy.
Lucy Beaumont is a fabulous and witty narrator of her story – I was going to say guide, but she is clear that this book isn’t full of parenting tips and is much more about entertainment, Good, I say – most of the parenting books I did try out of desperation when my children were tiny were no help and laughter would have been better anyway!
There are some really relatable moments, I think, for any parent. While I didn’t resort to drinking custard myself, I’m staggered that my son didn’t emerge with some kind of red meat or fizzy cola bottle addiction… There’s also the exhaustion – Lucy forgets her own child’s name and hires a sleep trainer; I couldn’t confirm my own address in the bank and was heavily reliant on The Baby Whisperer website to fix my own little sleep thief! Lucy’s baby rules the roost at home – and I think a lot of us have been there too.
I thoroughly enjoyed this little peek into another family’s life during those tricky early years. It was heartening to read some of my own thoughts – particularly about ridiculous situations you end up in as a parent – mirrored back at me. Albeit in a funnier way. And without having to actually relive those sleepless months.
I’d recommend this to anyone who has embarked on the parenting journey only to wonder – even if only occasionally – what on earth they are doing. Or anyone who has watched children’s TV and wondered who thought ‘In the Night Garden’ was a good idea. Or anyone who has ever gone to a baby group in the desperate hope of finding kindred spirits (I’m still traumatised by my one visit to Rhythm Time).
Definitely pick up this book if you want a laugh – I zipped through it, giggling to myself as I went and think it would make a great Christmas present for anyone on the parenthood journey. And probably an excellent deterrent for anyone idly considering having a baby!
About the Author:
Lucy Beaumont is a talented stand-up, comedy actress and writer. She is the writer and star of BBC Radio 4’s To Hull and Back, writer of Channel 4’s Hullraisers and co-writer of Dave’s Meet The Richardsons which returns for a second series this year. Lucy is a well-known daughter of Hull and is passionate about her hometown. She has appeared on numerous entertainment shows; Artsnight (BBC2), Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier (Dave), Alan Davies’ As Yet Untitled (Dave), QI (BBC2), Drunk History (Comedy Central), Jonathan Ross Show (ITV), The One Show (BBC1), Cats Does Countdown (C4), What’s Going to Kill Us (C5), Live At The Electric (BBC Three) and featured in a Maltesers advertising campaign.
I’m a teacher. Mainly a secondary level one, although I do have primary-age children so the school world explored by brothers Lee and Adam Parkinson in this book is not entirely alien to me. I had also seen posts by Mr P on Twitter but hadn’t made the connection with this book – the @ICT_MrP account is (I think) run by Lee.
This book is an entertaining jaunt through life as a teacher. It covers all the parts of the school year that are part and parcel of teaching life – the parents’ evenings, the school play, assemblies…plus the primary school belief that a wet paper towel can cure all ills. Headache – wet paper towel. Bruised knee – wet paper towel. Major arterial bleeding – wet paper towel. True.
I love Miles Jupp’s comedy and came to this book with very high expectations – thanks to NetGalley and Headline for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story is about Clive Hapgood, a History teacher in a small private school. He is having a tough time both at school and in his family life, so a trip to France at half term looks to be the answer to all his problems. However, an incident at school refuses to be forgotten and Clive’s life starts to unravel.
I’ll admit I perhaps didn’t come to this book for the most obvious reason. I didn’t actually know anything about Barbara Pym or her books, but have read and enjoyed several biographies by Paula Byrne and so was keen to read this. I’m grateful to NetGalley and Fourth Estate Books for my copy of her latest book in exchange for an honest review.
It’s been a slower reading month after July’s 17 books (a record for me!) Still, I’ve read some brilliant books this month – 11 in total. All were 4 stars with the exception of one FIVE STAR read at the start of the month…
This puts me on 92/100 on my Goodreads challenge – the end is in sight!
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