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What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

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Original poster

Novels which feature the reality of life with young children

40 replies

Lilipot15 · 13/02/2016 14:29

I like reading but since I've had my two small children have found it very difficult to get into reading again. Have had some books recommended to me here, I enjoy things like Anne Tyler.
But lots of books (and TV shows and films) seem so far-removed from my life at the moment.
I don't really like chick lit light stuff. Wondered if there are any books I could identify a bit with at the moment?

OP posts:

Quogwinkle · 13/02/2016 17:51

Night Waking by Sarah Moss is pretty realistic.

LifeHuh · 13/02/2016 20:41

I was going to suggest Night Waking!

Original poster

Lilipot15 · 14/02/2016 12:40

Thank you, I've just bought it for my kindle so will see how I get on. I'm in that phase of still feeding at night and with a small age gap never caught up on lost sleep so I think my concentration not at its best!!

OP posts:

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 14/02/2016 20:06

Not quite sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but The Light Between Oceans is a lovely read. It has a baby/small child in it. It'll make you cry, though, at the end.

Margaret Forster's The Seduction of Mrs Pendlebury always seems to me to be a realistic portrayal of a small child.

SellFridges · 14/02/2016 20:09

I haven't read any of those, but will look out.

The most realistic I've come across was the latest Bridget Jones. I particularly liked the bit where she ate grated cheddar from the fridge instead of a meal.

HalfStar · 14/02/2016 20:10

Night Waking 100%!

The type of novel you have outlined is a rare beast.

Indiaplain · 14/02/2016 21:32

Go to sleep by Helen Walsh is really good, although more about PND I guess. A good read though.

Sadik · 14/02/2016 22:40

Not quite the same thing (and her children are older - around 5 & 7 at the start), but I love the Diary of a Provincial Lady by EM Delafield. There's a great review by Jilly Cooper which sums up how completely she catches life with small children even now, despite the fact that she was writing in the 1930s. It's also good to read in bits & pieces, as it's actually a series of magazine columns in a diary format (a la Bridget Jones) collected together.

annandale · 14/02/2016 22:48

Cazalet Chronicles, especially the second and third.

Backingvocals · 14/02/2016 22:48

Diary of a Provincial Lady is a great call. It really captures the drudgery and humour of this phase and is a really nice light read if that's what you need right now.

And not a novel but a Life's Work by Rachel Cusk was really spot on about the baby years - for me at least.

ApologiesToInsectLife · 14/02/2016 22:49

Behind the scenes at the museum - Kate Atkinson.

annandale · 14/02/2016 23:37

A Special Relationship - Douglas Kennedy

Original poster

Lilipot15 · 15/02/2016 00:05

Thank you - I started Night Waking earlier and for once had to force myself to stop reading. So good to read a book which which I can identify a little. Kicking myself for not bringing Kindle through for first feed!
Will look up the others too.

OP posts:

Original poster

Lilipot15 · 15/02/2016 00:09

Just went to Amazon to look at The Light between Oceans and I bought it before I had children - sat there waiting to be read!

OP posts:

GiraffesAndButterflies · 15/02/2016 00:14

Seconding the latest Bridget Jones. The bit where they all have D&V is hilarious!

Original poster

Lilipot15 · 15/02/2016 10:15

Is the Bridget Jones book as good as the first one? In my mind they have been spoilt by the films which I just didn't enjoy as much.

OP posts:

eddiemairswife · 15/02/2016 10:30

have a look at Margaret Drabble's early books.

eddiemairswife · 15/02/2016 10:32

Helen Simpson's volumes of short stories.

PenguinVox · 15/02/2016 21:04

I read a few Jodi Picoult books after having kids and I liked the way she wrote about family life.

Original poster

Lilipot15 · 15/02/2016 21:57

Thanks - lots to be looking at.

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slightlyglitterbrained · 15/02/2016 22:31

Thanks for the Night Waking suggestion, bought it and finished last night.

Only prob is that it's making me think twice about ttc DC2!

gingercat12 · 17/02/2016 18:32

The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

Some parts of The Dept of Specu

Enjoy

Am looking up the earlier suggestions.

firefly78 · 17/02/2016 18:37

going to download some of these

ifigoup · 17/02/2016 18:38

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson is very honest and realistic about the fact that some women actively prefer going back to work rather than staying home with their children, and the guilt and second-guessing that goes with it. Sounds depressing but in the end it's very uplifting (and funny!) I really like it even though the author is a big Tory and I'm not.

Original poster

Lilipot15 · 17/02/2016 19:31

I'm so glad I started this thread!
Slightlyglitterbrained - yes, part of me is glad I already have two DCs before I read Night Waking.....staying with inlaws at the moment, and MIL is convinced I have the easiest baby ever...."well yes MIL, but you weren't awake with her for 2.5 hours last night" But at least I have a good book to read now when I'm feeding her to sleep.

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