This Little Mommy Stayed Home
Samantha Wilde. Bantam, $15 (388pp) ISBN 978-0-385-34266-7
New mother Joy McGuire, the put-upon heroine of this mixed mom-com, considers herself a martyr: all her body parts are either sagging or swelling (conditions she describes in great detail), she has an annoying mother-in-law, her husband spends all his time trying to save the private school where he's headmaster, her mother is marrying a man who can't possibly be as saintly as Joy's long-dead father, she suspects she missed the boat by not marrying her old college boyfriend, and she's lusting after her manipulative yoga instructor. Fortunately for Joy, her comfortable suburban New York friends are willing to discuss her woes at length. For those who enjoy soliloquies about poopy diapers, sore nipples and reproductive anatomy, Joy is an amusing character, though her one-note self-absorption can become grating. Wilde, a yoga instructor and mother of two young children, writes with an authenticity that will both entertain and irritate.
Details
Reviewed on: 06/22/2009
Genre: Fiction
Open Ebook - 243 pages - 978-0-553-90667-7