Thursday 29 December 2011

Review - The Darker Side of Mummy Misfit by Amanda Egan

A month or so ago, I was delighted to be invited to read Diary of A Mummy Misfit and my review can be found here.  When Amanda Egan asked me if I'd like to review the sequel - The Darker Side of Mummy Misfit - I was over the moon to be joining the cast of this cracking book again.  The sequel did not disappoint me at all.  In fact, I absolutely loved it.  As a reader, you can't help but have expectations of a sequel.  I can honestly say that this was everything that I wanted it to be and more!  

In the first book, Libby and husband Ned, put their son into private school and made some wonderful friends, but met some truly awful, snobby people along the way too. At the end of the novel, they came into some money and were able to finally afford to do the things that the other families at the school did.  Libby had always wanted a second child and to her delight became pregnant.

In The Darker Side, Libby and hilarious friend Fenella start their pregnancies together, while still helping to fundraise at the school.  They meet and befriend Patience, a single mom who is automatically disapproved of by most of the parents at the school.  When they find out her background, they keep it up their sleeves for using at a time in the future when it is needed most. 

While Libby and her family can now afford to do things that she craved in the past, she almost feels that her life being broke but happy, was preferable.  In this novel, her friendships, marriage and family are put to the test with lots of bumps along the way.   

I laughed so hard at times I thought I was going to wet myself (sorry to share that with you but I felt that I must!)  I also cried a lot at this book.  It contained a real rollercoaster of emotions and anyone who has been through the things that Libby went through in this book would empathise sincerely with her and want to personally help her through her ups and downs.   

I felt that I was inside Libby and Fenella’s friendship.  They were both hilarious but really good strong friends who understood each other so well.  Amanda Egan’s writing is outstanding, her characters so utterly likeable and believable that you want to join them in their lives.  The places she describes are so vivid and colourful they are so easy to imagine and conjure up in your mind. 

It was a real page turner, and I couldn't put it down.  It's such a throroughly enjoyable read, and flows so well that you just keep on reading. 

I would dearly love to hear more about the adventures of Libby, her family and her friends.  I sincerely hope that this is not the end of them.  I miss them already!

Amanda Egan was born and bred in London, and she trained  professionally as an actress.  After many years of procrastination, she has turned her hand to writing Chick/Mummy-lit.  She focused more on her writing after her son developed school phobia when he was 11 and she had to hang around his school in the background while he regained his confidence.  In her spare time, she loves to read anything from Maeve Binchy, Jill Mansell, and Penny Vincenzi to Noel Coward, Dostoevsky and Zola. She also love crafts and entertaining, particularly hosting themed dinner parties. 

2 comments:

Amanda Egan said...

Thank you so much for your fab review. It makes my job so worthwhile and brought a tear to my eye! You will be amongst the first to know when the new book comes out xxx

Janice said...

I've seen this book mentioned elsewhere and read your review with great interest - it sounds exactly like my kind of read. Thanks for the review Kim and Amanda - I wish you great success with it. I'll just pop over to Amazon!