I Don't Know How She Does It: Amazon.co.uk: Allison Pearson: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

For some considerable time, Allison Pearson's journalism and television punditry have represented an oasis of wit and intelligence in an era of dumbing-down. Her speciality is the perfectly judged observation: the devastatingly spot-on anatomising of the foibles of human behaviour--always unsparing, but always full of good humour. It’s hardly surprising, then, that I Don't Know How She Does It: Kate Reddy is crammed full of those same qualities: this beguiling and sharply observed novel is based on her weekly Daily Telegraph column. The publishers tell us that this is "a comedy about failure, a tragedy about success", and that gets it about right; at the centre of this utterly readable tale is the beleaguered Kate Reddy.

Pearson's heroine spends her life dealing with nagging guilt and the impossible demands of an over-busy life. Yes, we're talking about the crushing demands put on modern women--and Kate is a classic case of just how difficult it is to "have it all". Career, relationships, marriage--as many women know, managing them all is a Herculean task. And as Kate's juggling act carries her closer and closer to disaster, Allison Pearson herself pulls off a particularly jaw-dropping juggling act herself: certainly, I Don't Know How She Does It is a delightful comedy of manners with a beautifully observed heroine (with whom it's very easy to identify), but there are some razor-sharp points made under the surface here about women in the new century. But this is never at the expense of an unputdownable read--Pearson is much too canny a writer to forget the fact that we want to be entertained first and foremost, whatever else an author may freight in to their narrative. No wonder all those Hollywood film studios are already putting up millions for the screen rights. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

The writing is sharp, funny and cleverly observant of the small details - funny, intelligent and insightful' --Waterstone's Books Quarterly

brutally witty --Metro

It might be a sad indictment of the way things are today, but that doesn't stop Pearson making it funny --Glamour

a funny, heartbreaking mirror of the daily lives of mothers --Telegraph magazine

Pearson writes with instinctive comedy'
--Observer Review

funny, fast and full of nail-on-the-head observations --Daily Telegrapgh

sparkling black comedy --Play

Painfully funny --Heat

Pearson is a hilarious author who captures the guilt and the exhaustion of the working mother's life perfectly --Dublin Daily

Pearson writes with gratifying elegance and endearing self-mockery
--New York Times

It's the incisive details and Pearson's vivid writing that propel the story --New York Times Books

smart book... great fun --New York Times

Pearson is insightful, witty and full of fun --Daily Telegraph

searing comedy --New Statesman

wonderfully warm, witty and intelligent
--Sunday independent

A Bible for the working woman' --Oprah Whitfey

A grown-up novel that is hilarious, heartbreaking and brimming with the bitter-sweet tang of all our lives' --Tony Parsons

Allison Pearson is one of the stars of her generation' --Alexandra Shulman

I can't think of a woman who wouldn't want this book. --India Knight

Her social observation is unerringly accurate...so beautifully written that it brought tears to my eyes, as well as a wry smile
--The Daily Telegraph

Pearson... to write a novel... that has already sold a gazillion copies and is going to become a film. Hats off to you, madam!' --Ok Magazine

she will... make you laugh
--Culture, Sunday Times

refreshingly engaging --Vogue

Pearson... has made it all fresh again' --Time

entertaining, compulsively readable, and brilliantly written. --Daily Candy

hilarious and ... poignant --Publisher's Weekly

This terrific novel is alternately hilarious and sad
--Upfront

Here at last is the definitive social comedy of working motherhood --Washington Post

A book that made me howl with laughter --The Times

I am very taken with Kate Reddy...her tale made me cry twice and laugh often. --Independent on Sunday

It may change your life --The observer

Pearson is a very witty and moving writer. Her prose is spare and skilful, ... waspish truisms and spot-on social observations.
--Daily Express

Intelligent, witty and of-the-moment, it mixes sassy, brittle perceptions with barefaced sentimentality --The Herald, Glasgow

Pearson...never hides her intelligence or apologises for her seriousness of purpose. --The times,Play

extremely funny --The Irsih Times

brilliantly captures and defines the mood of the moment...sparkling wit and razor sharp insights' --XW Magazine

sharply observed and frequently funny
--Evening Standard

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful

Something missing 12 July 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Allison Pearson can, as we already know, write. Her forte is wonderful observations, pithily put. The resonance of what she writes about (I have two children; my wife and I both work) made me laugh and cry several times.

You should read the book if the above sounds good to you. If you want to read a story, however, be warned. The story doesn't start until page 288. Before that, you'll be embroiled in the hectic life of Kate Reddy, forever wondering if the plot possibilities she tees up will ever come to pass. Once you get to page 288, when Kate Reddy is confronted by events that require her to start making choices, you'll find major events dealt with very sketchily or barely mentioned in passing; the author skims over the few elements of real story that exist in the book. At times, it seems the author 'chokes' when faced with exploring how her heroine might develop when not merely coping with working motherhood.

I like a good storyline in novels. Maybe Ms Pearson was just too busy to put one in.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

Quite sad actually 7 Dec 2007

By Net

Format:Paperback

This was a very honestly written tells it like it is story. I felt quite emotional as I read Kate's constant juggle with work and family. The author described her feelings both rational and irrational very well and you ended up feeling profoundly sorry for them all.

There were some beautiful and poignant descriptions of those secret moments between parent and child - the `magic spot' between a baby's brow - that brought such a rush of tenderness and remembrance to me. Her portrayal of the change in a marriage brought about by having children was sooo accurate. Pearson makes truly spot on observations.

As much as I empathised with Kate I did silently cheer Richard for his actions but what disappointed me the most about this book was its conclusion, which felt rushed. Like other reviewers before me I agree that for 2/3rds of this book the story was gritty and realistic - such a shame it became a bit silly at the end, bit of a fairytale happy ever after ending that didn't really suit the tone Pearson had so cleverly set beforehand.

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful

Very entertaining, but..... 17 Feb 2003

By goldenman

This is a fun, read-in-three-days kind of novel, but pretty much forgettable. The major problem I had with this book was that I loathed Kate - partly for her snobbishness, but mainly for her stupidity. I mean, how can she really think that she can have it all? I had no sympathy for her at all and I really wanted Richard not to come back to her. She says that her family are the most important thing to her and that her family are suffering because she is nearly always at work, but it takes three quarters of the book for her to do something about it.

I also thought that Allison Pearson was trying to have it both ways, in that she perhaps was trying to paint an accurate picture of working women's lives in modern society, but the fact that Kate is such an incredibly high earner - not being representative of most working mothers after all - really undermines her argument.