Bad Mother's Handbook / Swallowing Grandma

THE BAD MOTHER'S HANDBOOK Nan, Karen and Charlotte (Charlie), three generations of the same family, live in uneasy and sometimes suffocating circumstances. Karen has to care for Nan, who is not as far off her rocker as Karen believes, and try to control her teenage daughter Charlie, whilst still trying to have a life of her own, which may or may not include a new relationship with the head of the school where she works as a classroom assistant. Told from the perspective of each woman, this book neatly, but without preaching, explains how misunderstandings happen within families, and how, at times, we can all feel the victim. SWALLOWING GRANDMA Swallowing Grandma covers similar territory to Kate Long's first novel, The Bad Mother's Handbook, in its witty, gritty northern humour, and themes of teenage pregnancy, difficult family relationships and absence of fathers. Kate does teenage loathing particularly brilliantly. The book is also a fascinating mystery too, which keeps you guessing until the end. An ending which is all the more powerful and satisfying for the author not feeling obliged to tie everything up into a glossy red bow and answer all her characters' problems, because let's face it, with the issues such as eating disorders, ageing parents, and abandoned children, there are no easy solutions. Imperfect people are allowed to stay imperfect, just like real life. The book is believable, honest and unflinching - the sort of book I thought UK publishers had stopped allowing the book buying public to read!!! So thanks Kate (and Picador) for a great read and for not force-feeding us yet more sugar-coated, redemptive endings.


Genre: Literary Fiction