Anna is a teacher and a wife, although she isn't sure she wants to be both any more. She isn't a mother, which makes her sad, she knew from the beginning that Jamie, her husband, didn't want a family. But it wasn't, perhaps, the wisest course of action to embark on an affair with Jamie's brother, in the hope that she might get pregnant.

Juno has made a surprising decision; she has signed up for Queen Mum, a reality-TV show. For two weeks, she will live with another family in another town, while her opposite number will be moving in next door to Ally, her neighbour. Juno is excited about the prospect of seeing life from a different perspective. Ally is nervous.

The Bad Mother's Handbook is the story of a year in the lives of Charlotte, Karen, and Nan, none of whom can quite believe how things have turned out.

A funny novel about the ties of love and loathing, and the ways in which our versions of the past can thwart our visions for the future. It talks about two characters locked in an epic battle over whose side of the story will prevail.

Anna's personal life is in crisis. Her marriage is struggling, and the disastrous affair she began as consolation has now become a millstone around her neck. The place where she feels most secure is the safe and ordered world of the classroom - until a new pupil arrives in her English group.

Why is it all so difficult? Why do the most ridiculous mistakes have the most disastrous consequences? When are you too old to throw up in a flowerbed after too much vodka? When are you too young to be a mother? Both hilarious and wise, it is a clear-eyed look at motherhood - and childhood - in its many guises, from the moment the condom breaks to the moment you file for divoice or, more ...

Presents the story of a year in the lives of Charlotte, Karen and Nan, none of whom can quite believe how things have turned out. This book gives a look at motherhood - and childhood - in its many guises, from the moment the condom breaks to the moment you file for divorce.

Three generations of one family driven apart by infidelity, in this riveting new novel from the author of The Bad Mother's Handbook