Product Description

The world is a fraught place for the contemporary female. Working mothers are still expected to make their children's costumes for the school play, despite the fact that home economics was abolished in the Seventies; we're told it's not looks but brains that count, and yet if we dare to leave the house looking vaguely our age we're made to feel like failures; women's magazines run earnest articles about the evils of size 00 culture, only to feature models with hips like 10-year-old boys a few pages later; we pay the same level of taxation as men, and yet on average we earn 25% less. So, this book - a book for women who never got around to perfecting the art of domestic divinity but would quite like to be able to cook supper for six without having a nervous breakdown; who never quite mastered Cosmo's 101 ways to please your man, but don't want the embarrassment, not to say inconvenience, of him running off with a 19-year-old Russian supermodel. It's your mother, your best friend, your guru and your shrink wrapped up in book form, with jokes.It's the antidote to every stupid, boring, reductive magazine article you've ever read, or every silly, hair-twirling, chick lit confection about girls called Arabella who marry bankers and live in Gstaad. It's for women who love their children but don't want them to run their lives; and for women who love their lives and won't have them run by children. It's about revising expectations, exploding myths and generally dealing with all that life, love and other people have to throw at you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3014 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
'I love this book. It's one of those rare beasts..you want to...rush out and buy for all your girlfriends.' --India Knight, Sunday Times

Review
'This beautifully produced book offers a refreshing new approach, illuminating the lot of contemporary women without claiming to have the answers.'

About the Author
Sarah Vine is a writer and editor at The Times. After a four-year stint as Arts Editor, she took up full-time writing in 2003. She remains active in the arts world, and is a trustee of the Jerwood Foundation. Prior to joining The Times, Sarah worked as Features Editor on Tatler, and before that she was Deputy Editor of the Sunday Express Magazine. She is 39, married with two children and lives in West London. Tania Kindersley has published six novels and written for various publications, including the Times, the Spectator and the Guardian. She has worked in a variety of unmentionable office jobs, made soup in a cafe, delivered pressed shirts to city workers, done stints as a florist and a barista, and ventured briefly into the alarming world of retail. She lives in Scotland with two black dogs and a pair of Gloucester Old Spot pigs.

Customer Reviews

Great for the weary
I read this whilst trying to teach my 9 week old son to sleep - it was diverting and light hearted enough to keep me sane and good tempered in the task. A lovely book that gently pokes fun at the expectations that we set for ourselves as women whilst at the same time encourages us to take time just to appreciate and enjoy things just as they are.

An Unexpected Pleasure
As a 70 year old man I am certainly not the target audience for this book. My daughter is and I have given her a copy. I picked it up because I liked the look of the cover. Dipping in to it, I was at once struck by the authors' wit and intelligence. It's very entertaining - not at all what one might have expected. It's full of surprises. It seems to be a book of thoughts, almost of musings, rather than of advice as such. What about a chapter entitled 'Philosophy of Life, Self-Esteem and the Whole Damn Thing'? Whoa, as the young say. Buy it - you'll enjoy it.

Lovely and empathetic read
I really enjoyed this book. I disagree with view that it is only of interest to those without 'life experience', if such people exist. Speaking personally, which is all you can ever do, I found the book to be full of wisdom and insight of which mostly we are all aware but which we forget we know, particularly in our dark moments. Reading it was like having a wonderful day out with your closest women friends and talking about everything from the meaning of life to the perfect lipstick and all in between. It is a reminder that we are all imperfect and should be glad to be so, as it is our flaws and idiosyncrasies that make us who we are and that attract others to us. It is wonderfully witty, warm and comforting. I loved it.