Product Description

'My mother-in-law Annie lived with us for 17 years and was picture-book perfect.' It took a while before the family realised that Annie was increasingly (as she would put it) 'Mutt and Jeff'. So Phyllida began to write out the day's gossip at the kitchen table, putting her notes by Annie's bed before going to hers. One night as heer husband wandered off to bed he muttering darkly that she spent so much time each evening writing to Annie she could have written a book. 'And illustrated it!' Here it is. It is a book full of the delights of a warm and loving household. Of Boot the Cat being sick after over-indulging in spiders; the hunt for cleaning products from the dawn of time; persistently and mysteriously malfunctioning hearing aids; an unusual and potentially hilarious use for a clove of garlic; and the sad disappearance of coconut logs from the local sweetshop. It's about the special place at the heart of a home held by a woman born in another age. Who polished the brass when it was 'looking red at her'. Who still bore a scar on her hands from being hit by her employer when, as a young woman, she was in service. Who could turn the heel of a sock and the collar of a shirt, and make rock-cakes, bread pudding and breast of lamb with barley.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #388 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 200 pages

Review
"A life through fridge notes. A whole life: a strange, particular, grand, funny, touching and remarkable life. Bodily ailments, gruff independence and plain weirdness cause a great character to emerge from the silent end of a dialogue that charms, compels and astonishes. Phyllida Law has created something quite splendid, new and unforgettable. And what a great illustrator Phyllida Law might have become had she not instead become a great actress." --Stephen Fry

`The book is as extraordinary as the woman who wrote it. The correspondence started with the odd note on the kitchen table reminding Granny Annie of a doctor's appointment or that there was ham in the fridge, but built into more. 'What happened was that she was getting increasingly deaf, and one day I realised that although she was sitting through all the shrieking of family lunch, she couldn't actually hear any of it. So, I started to write her summaries at the end of the day and leave them by her bed. It became quite therapeutic. I used to scribble for hours.' The result is quite extraordinary. On one level, it's a humorous work about hearing aids and incontinent dogs. On another, it's an uplifting story of family love and duty, and generational conflict.' DAILY MAIL -- DAILY MAIL

`One of the most pleasurably giddy reads I've had for ages, it's laugh-out-loud funny as well as deeply poignant' SCOTSMAN --SCOTSMAN

`It is clearly the work of a great natural talker, conjuring for her increasingly ailing relative whole sheaves of hilarious anecdotes...Quickly, they build into a classic of that under-recorded subject: everyday life....these seemingly casual, sometimes throwaway notes add up to the collected prose of a truly great comedian....It's too good as a ­stocking filler for your mother-in-law. It's too good for the loo. There is as much compressed, instinctive humour in these pages as in Alan Bennett's The Lady in the Van'
--Sunday Times

`Vivid, zesty, full of fun, the book is an absolute tear-jerker.'
--Guardian

Chosen as an Observer 'Book of the Year' by Nigel Slater
--Observer

Review
"I thought the book was blissful. Hearing only one side of the conversation between her and Gran makes it as compulsive as eavesdropping on a train, and fifty times funnier. She has an unerring ear for detail, which makes the small ridiculous chaos that families inhabit jewel-bright and touching. I think it's better than a diary; this glimpse of family life will be familiar and inspiring to those caring for the elderly, and a reminder to us all that kindness and humour are the best companions in the world."

About the Author
Phyllida Thompson has appeared in numerous plays, television series and films, including Peter's Friends, Much Ado about Nothing, Foyle's War and Kingdom. She was married to Eric Thompson, the writer and narrator of the English version of The Magic Roundabout, until his death in 1982. She has two daughters, Emma and Sophie. Notes to my Mother-in-Law is her first book.

Customer Reviews

The perfect gift?
In a world where It's A Wonderful Life represents the 'perfect' Christmas, this remarkable book combines whimsy, wit and charm in equal measure. For everyone who admires their elders as wiser, madder and possessing an admirable eccentricity, this book is a wonderful journey through relationships and reminiscence.

With the lightest of touches, this is a beautiful book that will resonate with anyone with a heart made of anything more malleable than tungsten. There is not a better gift for us 'old people' - eg around about 40 and above!

Best read of the year
I treated myself to this book last week, after having read a glowing review in one of the broadsheets. I'm really glad I did. It was worth every penny. I loved it, every last little bit of it. It was funny, sad, touching and delicious. I've just finished it, and I'm torn between reading it again and sending it to everyone I know.

Law has a wonderful eye for the absurd and a knack of telling the most fascinatingly funny anecdotes that literally had me crying with laughter. It truly is the best thing I've read all year. A total treasure.

The Same Thing Has Happened To Me
Excellent book to pick up for short reads and then come back to time and time again. If you have elderly parents/parents in law you will be get an instant mental picture of the same things happening to you.