Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years
Synopsis
When you’re pregnant you think: ‘I’m having a baby’, not a person who will eventually catch trains by themselves, share a fridge with ten strangers, go to a festival in Croatia without succumbing to a drug overdose, and one day, bring you a gin and tonic when your mother is dying.
We imagine the teenage years as a sort of domestic meteor strike, when our dear, sweet child, hitherto so trusting and mild, is suddenly replaced by a sarcastic know-all who isn’t interested in the wisdom we have to pass on. But with great honesty and refreshingly bracing wit, Stephanie Calman shows that adolescence in fact begins much earlier, around the age of seven.
And having nurtured them through every stage of development, from walking to school by themselves to their first all-night party, you find yourself alone – bereaved even – as they skip off to university without a second glance.
Candid, touching and very, very funny, Confessions of a Bad Mother: The Teenage Years offers hope to despairing and exhausted parents everywhere. Read it and discover that your teenager is not the enemy after all.
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Reviews
“I’m actually convinced that Stephanie has had a sneak peak into my life . . . As well as being slightly thought provoking, you will relate to this book on so many levels as a parent, I loved it and think it’s a must read . . . The book is bound to become a hit”Lost in the Land of Books
“This is a delightful book in many senses, as the honest revelations of feelings, some fears and many frustrations emerge from a writer who carefully balances farce with reality. I found it funny and realistic, and flows well from episode to explosion and explanation. I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would, and found it very readable. I would certainly read other books by Calman, as this is a balanced and essentially lighthearted read”Northern Reader
“I loved this book. It has interesting layers of which even its author appears unaware. She is brutally honest and more or less incapable of writing a stuffy or self-satisfied line. What a reader can see and she seems not to, is that she is just as bright and intelligent as her children as they grow, and possessed of a sweet nature and a brilliant sense of humour.”Anne Garvey, The Jewish Chronicle
“Hilarious, poignant, and relatable on so many levels . . . a must-read for parents at every stage of their parenting journey . . . sure to be a huge hit and I highly recommend it”Books of All Kinds, Books of All Kinds
