M is for Mummy

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Pub Date 5 Aug 2022 | Archive Date 10 May 2022

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Description

Your family doesn't fit the mould. So what? Since giving birth to her second child, Lucy's life is totally unrecognisable: the romance in her marriage is officially dead and so is the career it took her years to build. Instead of playing the cello behind superstars at packed-out arenas, Lucy now spends most days mopping up broccoli vomit whilst listening to her four-year-old recite facts about the gallbladder. Something needs to change. With a little help from her friends, Lucy comes up with a plan to get her life on track, claw back her career and help her extraordinary son to find his place in an ordinary world.

Your family doesn't fit the mould. So what? Since giving birth to her second child, Lucy's life is totally unrecognisable: the romance in her marriage is officially dead and so is the career it took...


Available Editions

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ISBN 9781838953133
PRICE US$22.95 (USD)

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Average rating from 38 members


Featured Reviews

Hilarious! Laugh out loud read..tacklingall the insecurities that Mum's go through...was able to identify with all the body image issues! There is a serious side to Lucy's tale of manic motherhood.. Stanley her oldest child has always displayed some interesting behaviours.. Lucy and Ed have always just accepted these..until Lucy returns to work and tries broadening Stanley's social horizons. Lucy begins to realise that maybe Stanley is on the Autistic Spectrum and initially struggles to accept this..plus she sees many similarities in his behaviours with her husband...An interesting and funny read with a sympathetic understanding of ASD.

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Lucy's son Stanley is different. He is obsessed with letters, number puzzles and body parts, and he likes things to be a certain way.
As Lucy faces up to the possibility that Stanley is more than just different, she also starts to see where he gets it from - her husband, Ed, who also has autistic traits.
Generally, Lucy and Ed have a good relationship, even if Stanley and baby Jack mean that romance has waned a little. She also has two great friends and is working to rekindle her career as a concert cellist and session musician.
I loved these aspects of the book and how Lucy tries to hold everything together, it was very relatable and the book is also sweary, funny and well-written. A great portrait of life with a neurodivergent child (and, very probably, husband) that will resonate with anyone who doesn't fit the mould.

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This was a stunning book, both happy and heartbreakingly sad in some parts, I really felt for the main character Lucy, The realisation she has at the end regarding her husband was so poignant. I'm not sure if this is a debut novel as I cant locate anything else by this author but I sincerely hope there is more to come

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A quick and easy read that was so funny I laughed out loud on several occasions. The story is good, the characters were so relatable, I loved it

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A laugh out novel, was such an enjoyable read. Loved all the humorous side to motherhood, even though the seriousness is written about too. Was a good read.

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What an funny, sad, real kind of book. There should be more books like this around that tell you what life really is like with children who are individual. But also what it is like to loose yourself into family life. I loved the way it was told, how it made me laugh and cry, a brilliant book!

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Absolutely loved this frank, funny totally relatable read! This book will resonate with all mums of young children desperately trying to parent, maintain a career, keep on top of the housework and sustain a healthy marriage! Not easy at all especially with Autism thrown in too for good measures!
Sensitivity, tact and realism abound as this young family muddle through the early years not easy when both parents are musicians, but a mother’s true love shines through as she will go to any extreme to help her child and in doing so has an epiphany re her husband Ed which helps to explain so much!
Great story line fantastic characterisation and a real laugh out loud read but with a serious undertone, would love to read more from this talented author.
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

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Lucy is such a perfectly written character, I just want to hug her. She is so honest and true to life and in so many ways recognisable. She had me in stitches and in tears, because I have felt and been in so many many similar situations. A great book to make you feel not so alone in the mummy struggles, and so well written.

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Read this as an arc. Thoroughly enjoyed - I laughed, I cried and more than anything this made me think. It was so thought provoking especially as some of the issues hit home around autism and the signs not only in children but adults who have gone undiagnosed for years. Definitely one to put on your tbr list when it is released

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If you want a giggle then this is the book for you!
I laughed (a lot!) but it also pulled at my heart strings too. In short, it's a story about a lovely family who don't quite fit the moulding in society, but the mother does everything in her power to help her son find his place in the world 💙

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An excellent book, written with a great deal of compassion and heart, with three dimensional characters that you’ll fall in love with. A brilliant evocation of family life.

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I loved the narrative perspective of this book. The frustration that Lucy constantly feels is palpable and I'm sure every reader will be shouting in their heads that it isn't too hard to see where her son's autism has originated! However, it's a happy book too. For those who don't have family members on the spectrum, it's a good way of communicating those challenges in an entertaining but sensitive way. I thought it was a great read - well written and observed and really engaging.

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Oh my goodness, this book resonated with me on so, so, SO many levels, I just can't describe it!

M is for Mummy is a book about love - a Mother's love.

Lucy is an exhausted mother of two boys aged 4 and under, Stan and Jack. Before that, she was, and still is, wife to Ed, a session musician, and prior to that, she was a cellist of the highest level.
Motherhood takes every ounce of her energy, so much so that it's like she's lost her own identity, and if it wasn't for her close friends, Jen and Charlie, she'd give up even imagining a future of music, for herself.
On top of that, she is dealing with the likelihood that her older son might just be autistic. With certain habits and traits being displayed, she is more and more convinced that he is, but without a diagnosis, and little support from other directions, Lucy battles with the meltdowns and obsessions as best she can.

I loved this. As I said before, it resonated, so much. As a teacher of young children, I come into contact with children like Stan, increasingly, and the difficulties that parents have, of accepting that maybe, there is something else that might be making their child act in certain ways.

Lucy is a fantastic, though knackered mother, and I applauded her for recognising something within her child, and wanting to act upon it. I only wish I could suggest this as reading for certain parents who really don't get ASD...

Many thanks to NetGalley and Corvus/Atlantic Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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From the second I discovered this book existed, I had a feeling I was going to love it, and I wasn't wrong, although love isn't a strong enough word - it's a wonderful book.

I always enjoy reading books featuring young families and seeing how they cope and within the first few pages I was laughing with that opening, and then as we meet Stan, I found him incredibly endearing to start and very loveable.

In fact I'm really really hoping this may be the start of a series, because I already need another fix of Stan, and I love baby Jack too, and seeing just what may happen next with Lucy and Ed. I enjoyed seeing their ups and downs, and also the various situations Lucy gets herself into.

There is a lot of humour to be had with this book, as well as a heart meltingly perfect finale that was unexpected in its nature but just worked for the characters.

It is also though a look at parenthood when one of your children is clearly a bit different from the average child. It was fairly obvious to me what the diagnosis would be for Stan, but he is just a loveable boy, and Lucy is doing her best to understand him, that he really is just Stanley.

From having worked with some children a bit like Stanley I get the feeling that this is rather authentic, and all the concerns Lucy expresses are realistic and valid. I find all of this made them very relatable too, and something that parents will especially enjoy reading, as I suspect they will see elements of their own experiences reflected in this.

This is one rather special family that has wormed its way into my heart, and I really want more from them, A very entertaining debut novel, from an author I will certainly be keen to read more from.

Thank you to Corvus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

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A book full of laugh and cry moments . She is a mother of two beautiful and amazing boys . She is a cello player who has almost a year to perform because she is busy with her kids . She is seeing her eldest to strangle with everyday issues and she is almost certain that he has autism spectrum disorder . She is trying very hard to be there for him and understand him . I loved her relationship with her besties .
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own

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I really enjoyed this book, it brought back memories of when my children were little and you could relate to what the mum is going through. was funny to read

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Lucy is juggling her career as a cellist with life as a mum of two boys.
Her eldest Stan she is certain is on the autism spectrum and her youngest Jack is a baby. Her mother-in-law is disapproving and judgy as hell while being in complete denial that she had raised a man child (goodness me, Ed's husband was so freaking selfish and annoying!) I loved Lucy's relationship with her best friends Jen and Charlie.
This book was brilliant. It had me howling with laughter and at times sobbing. A brilliant portrayal of a child with autism, the struggle to obtain a diagnosis and the judgy mum club.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Books for the eArc.

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I absolutely loved this! I could related to so many things this author wrote about it really made me smile at every page.
First from this author for me and definitely in my favourites list!

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This started out as a laugh out loud mummy memoir which had me chuckling along as the realities of birth really resonated with me but then it explored what it is to have a child that does not fit in with societal norms. Lucy is a cellist with two young children trying to juggle a return to the fickle world as a self employed musician and looking after a demanding child and baby. Stan is a delightful four year old that immediately had my heart refering to his parents as 'Excuse me'. He is fixated on number and letter puzzles in any language an obviously bright child but one who has real touble socialising and managing his emotions. Her love for her son and husband is evident as she tries to find answers that will help the family navigate daily life. This was really well written with relatable characters as well as balancing the humour with serious topics. I read this incredibly quickly as I just wanted to keep reading which is always the sign of a good book.

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