Life affirming books about motherhood

[sunnysunnyshine]

I'm looking for an easy read book based around motherhood/young families. I'm going through a bereavement so I'm after something uplifting but not too cheesy, where all the characters have wonderful, unrealistic, happy endings. But at the same time not too depressing. Haha I'm probably asking for the impossible aren't I??

Any recommendations pls?

Honestly can't think of any sorry sunny. Is it fiction you are after or something along the lines of What Mothers Do?

Depends if you want modern or classic fiction, but I would have suggested perhaps Sense & Sensibility. There's a good happy relationship between the sisters and their mother and there's a happy ending too. What more could you ask? :)

India Knight Comfort and Joy??? Or is it too cheesy? Very light reading, nice sense of humour... a relaxing read.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver? It's ridiculous in many ways but is written as an uplifting tale.

Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud might be the ticket - one way of reading it is as saying "Hey, everything works out".

How about My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell? Bit similar to Hideous Kinky, now I think about it.

I'll have a think about some others ...

I like animula's choices.
SOmething by Anne Tyler? not perfect for everyone, but maybe Patchwork Planet, or Digging to America?
If you want comfort reading (warm bath reading) then I think it's hard to beat Cold Comfort Farm and I Capture the Castle. Also pretty much any Josephine They (super-gentle dated crime). Or Diana Wynne Jones.

Lots of very light 'yummy mummy' and 'shopaholic and daughter' type stuff around atm

Special Delivery is lovely - it's a real life account of an American woman who went into labour prematurely with triplets while staying in the UK, so it is a bit emotional in places, but it ends happily and is really uplifting.

Hmm actually perhaps that's not the title... let me check. Oh no, it is. It's by Ann Leary.

www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Delivery-Mother-Country-Unexpected/dp/0007177755/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338665463&sr=1-1

Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman is a fantastic read - its not all about being a mother but there is a lot in there about it. And its hilarious.

I'm just reading Buddhism for Mothers, after reading it recommended on here. It is full of wonderful advice for looking after yourself with kindness etc, which may be useful at this difficult time.

you don't have to be a buddhist at all to read it or find it useful (I'm not), but I have found it incredibly powerful (and I'm the most cynical, bitter old bag going)

Rowan Coleman's The Baby Group and The Accidental Mother - chicklit but intelligent chicklit. Gill McNeil writes about single mothers of young sons settling into new lives in villages.