Book Review: Why Mummy Swears By Gill Sims

Amazingly my prayers were answered when I discovered there was to be a follow up to Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims! Having been my favourite book of the year so far, the forthcoming release of Why Mummy Swears has been highly anticipated, I was therefore ecstatic when Harper Collins offered to send me a preview copy (I may have done a little happy dance!) – Many thanks to Rosie and Harper Collins. Upon arrival it goes without saying that it bypassed my precariously balanced ‘To Be Read’ pile and was promptly promoted to next in line, I couldn’t wait to get started!

Synopsis

It’s every parents’ nightmare – the start of the school holidays – and instead of sitting in the sun, reading a book over a cold, crisp glass of Pinot Grigio, Mummy has two bored moppets to attend to. After frantically booking sports camps, child minder slots, not to mention time off work, Mummy is exhausted. But this is only the beginning…

After being dragged to join the school’s PTA in the new term by an annoyingly kind-spirited neighbour, Mummy is stuck with organising the Christmas Fayre and pleasing all the overly disapproving parents. In combination with getting to know her father’s surprise new glamorous (and much younger) wife and being forced to spend more time with her narcissistic mother, life isn’t cutting her much of a break. What more could possibly happen?

 Review

Why Mummy Swears joins Ellen, Husband Simon and their precious moppets, Jane and Peter, a couple of years on from Why Mummy Drinks, as they are about to embark possibly a parent’s worst time of the year, the dreaded school holidays. Following a year in the life of the family it’s clear to see that Ellen’s parenting struggles haven’t magically disappeared, they have merely been exchanged for a set of different ones – I know that feeling only too well!

Written in the same diary format as the original, this time round we follow Ellen as she embarks on juggling life as a full-time career woman and Mother which of course is all played out with a plethora of hilarity and plenty of swearing as the title suggests. With Jane now a pre-teen girl desperate to become ‘famous’ using Instagram and Peter spending his time eating and farting she has her hands full and that’s without even having to deal with her relationship issues.

Once again Gill has hit the nail on the head perfectly and written a cracker! It’s parenting humour at it’s absolute best, so realistic and relatable I could have written the majority from my own personal experience. I empathised with Ellen at every juncture, especially when it came to issues regarding her relationship with husband Simon and I’m sure plenty of married women would find themselves nodding with understanding too.

Why Mummy Swears is laugh out loud funny and had me doubled over laughing, often accompanied with some extremely unattractive snorting. I didn’t think it was possible, but this book has surpassed expectation and is even more hilarious that the first!

There is small section of the book which portrays an emotional, life-affirming event that saw me struggling to read the text through blurry eyes. It came out of the blue as I wasn’t expecting this book to have me sobbing, but it’s perfectly written and pertinent to the story. Fear not, full throttle humour was quickly restored and before I knew it my sobs had turned to laughter.

Whilst this is a follow-up of Why Mummy Drinks it works perfectly well as a standalone book, there a few references to the previous book which are recapped well so the reader isn’t faced with huge gaps in the story. I adored every second of this book, I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a couple of days – would have been sooner if my own moppets weren’t demanding my attention! Highly recommended, two thumbs up and five shiny gold stars from me. Hopefully if I wish again for another instalment of Ellen’s life Gill will make my dreams come true! Keep them coming, I’m desperate to see how Ellen will handle the teenage years!

Gill Sim’s also writes popular ‘tongue-in-cheek’ parenting page Peter and Jane where you can read about their ongoing hilarious exploits.

Why Mummy Swears is available to buy here* or if like me you like to read books in order why not start with Why Mummy Drinks available here*.

I was gifted a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

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