Having It and Eating It

Rating:
Summary: Page-turning fun and thought-provoking brain food
Review: Although I figured out very early what would happen regarding one key plot point, I nevertheless recommend this book as a good weekend read. The characters are believable, as are the situations and conversations. There are suspenseful moments, and funny ones, and of course, touching ones as well. Very enjoyable, on the whole.
It's of the genre pouring out of England in the past few years -- I think Helen Fielding started the trend with the Bridget Jones books, although the books about Adrian Mole are in the same vein, and predate Fielding by awhile -- humor diarists writing winningly about everyday situations. Jane Green does a nice job, too, and the best recent offering is _I Don't Know How She Does It_. If you read that one, this book will seem a little flat, but still well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Page-turning fun and thought-provoking brain food
Review: Although I figured out very early what would happen regarding one key plot point, I nevertheless recommend this book as a good weekend read. The characters are believable, as are the situations and conversations. There are suspenseful moments, and funny ones, and of course, touching ones as well. Very enjoyable, on the whole.
It's of the genre pouring out of England in the past few years -- I think Helen Fielding started the trend with the Bridget Jones books, although the books about Adrian Mole are in the same vein, and predate Fielding by awhile -- humor diarists writing winningly about everyday situations. Jane Green does a nice job, too, and the best recent offering is _I Don't Know How She Does It_. If you read that one, this book will seem a little flat, but still well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Depressing but absorbing tale of stay-at-home motherhood
Review: Durrant's story is well-crafted and well-written, but it's kind of a downer. First, it makes being a stay-at-home mom seem positively loathsome and tremendously unfulfilling (I'm not a mom yet, so I couldn't say whether or not this is true). Second, the fact that heroine Maggie is not married to her man Jake (but has two kids by him)seriously warrants some further exploration and explanation that we never receive. And even though Jake doesn't turn out to be the cad we thought he was, there are still some serious relationship issues that are never resolved.

However, I did find this book engaging enough to finish in a few hours, so despite the problems I had with it I still consider it a pretty decent read.

Rating:
Summary: Pleasantly Surprised
Review: I bought this book from Barnes and Noble because I wanted to get my order over $25.00 to get free shipping (LOL) and it was a baragin book. Well I am so glad I bought this!

The story is about Maggie who is a stay at home mom raising two young boys, whom she had with her live in boyfriend Jake. The two never married because Jake is just not into the whole marrige thing... this urks Maggie a bit...

Out one day with the children Maggie runs into Claire, and old friend from school, and upon dragging Jake to a party at Claire's house she begins to envy Claire's life as an unattached woman... Maggie seems torn between wishing Jake would just marry her already and wishing she was a carefree single. While at the party she also learns that the man living downstairs from Claire happens to be the attractive australian gardner who's van she happened to hit a few days or so before...

Soon Maggie begins to suspect that Jake and Claire are having an affair... which leads Maggie to do some things she would most likely never do...

I loved this book. I loved the irony involved and I feel the author penned the characters in a manner which makes them so loveable and sympathetic to them, especially Maggie... I suggest this book to anyone who loves the Chick Lit genre of books. You won't be let down.

Rating:
Summary: I am Maggie Owen!
Review: Reviewing readers who have no children can not POSSIBLY understand this book. No offense. Neither could I have two years ago before the birth of my first child. Now home with two, I COMPLETELY relate with Maggie Owen, our narrator and protagonist.

Durrant clearly has experienced motherhood, perhaps even stay-at-home motherhood. It's a different world. It's stifling, but fulfilling in its own wonderful ways as she explains so beautifully.

I called friends and family at times to read excerpts that struck me just so. Even staggered down the hall (no, not drinking...laughing so hard I could hardly walk) to read bits to my husband/the father of our children.

If you haven't had kids yet, wait to read the book...no...don't...this'll give you a taste of what IS to come.

Rating:
Summary: Obvious
Review: This book devotes most of its descriptive energy to portraying the unfulfilled life of this underappreciated "playground mum." It's depressing enough to put anyone off having children, and given the many advantages of Maggie's posh lifestyle, it comes off as whinging. Somehow the playful element that might add a note of comedy is missing.

You might think that things would be spiced up by the plot involving adultery. I will not give any more details here, but I don't think I'd be spoiling it if I did, because all of the developments of this subplot (including its eventual ironic, "surprise" twist) are completely obvious from the get-go. I cannot recall the last time I read a book this predictable.

In short, the plot of this book is not nearly exciting enough to warrant spending time with its irritating narrator.

Rating:
Summary: What a fun sassy read!
Review: This is a fun book! It's a guaranteed read to take your mind off of your troubles! This is my first Sabine Durrant book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't read it to pick at the moral issues ~~ I read it to have a break from nonstop packing and moving woes. And it's a perfect escape!

Maggie gave up her career to stay home to raise her two little boys ~~ her boys with her partner, Jake. One day she runs into her schoolhood chum and realized that her own life isn't as together as Claire's. Then to top it off, she suspects Jake is having an affair with Claire ~~ and off this book goes. With hilarious tales of two little boys running amuck in the house and with other people, Maggie begins a journey into self-awareness. And this is a fun hilarious read!

At first Maggie puts herself down for being a stay-at-home mom ~~ engrossed with recipes and childcare and local gossip. Then as the story progresses, she begins to realize that she is the envy of the women in her life. And she begins to grow up!

This is a must-read for all women ~~ regardless of their marital status or children-status. I think moms with very young children can relate to Maggie's dilemmas with the babies ~~ but everyone can enjoy the stories. Durrant writes with a flair and humor ~~ you can't help but fall in love with the characters and keep on turning the pages. This is the perfect summer read!

5-22-03

Rating:
Summary: Stale cake
Review: This isn't a bad book, but it isn't a very good one either. Yes, I have kids so I can concede that her observations about chaotic childcare are accurate. Accurate, yes, but not original, thought provoking or more to the point, funny. Because this writer seems to have taken a stab at comic writing. My advice: Don't do it, you're simply not funny enough. Sabine Durrant is certainly no Marian Keyes.

I kept reading this thinking it would pick up. It didn''t. The plot didn't really go anywhere and the ending was anticlimactic. I guess I mainly read it because I'm a UK girl living in the US and like reading about England when I feel homesick. But this book was like a long forgotten eclair you find at the bottom of your fridge, looks tasty but ends up tastingt kind of stale.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic heroine, excellent writing . . but . . .
Review:     Heroine: Feeling frumpy, still carrying baby weight

Meet thirty-something Maggie Owens, former journalist turned stay-at-home-mum of two baby boys.  Maggie loves her life, but lately she feels disconnected from everything: the "real" world, the one where making money is all that counts; her "friends" with whom she has nothing in common save motherhood, and most of all her partner Jake, who has been very distant while working on several major advertising accounts at once.

And nothing seems to drive this point home to Maggie as decisively as a chance meeting with an old girlhood friend, the devastatingly successful, blonde, slender Claire Masterson. It is Claire who has made her mark on the world of international journalism, while Maggie submitted her work to third and fourth rate publications. But Claire states that she's getting too old for a jetset life and has moved back home to get back to her roots and hopefully find the man of her dreams, the one who will give her the family she longs for.

At first Maggie is thrilled to have her old friend around, but soon a series of upsetting coincidences leave Maggie wondering if Jake isn't having an affair with the toned and tan Claire, which in turn leads her to consider wandering down the garden path herself.

What worked for me:

    The word craft in this story was excellent; certainly a notch above the other chick lit books of this nature. Some passages I read more than once, just to savor the clever construction of the sentences and the images they portrayed.

As a stay-at-home mom myself, it was easy for me to slip into Maggie's world of diapers and spit-up. And I completely understood her struggle with feeling herself to be somehow less important than the supermoms who balanced kids with careers.

Size-wise Maggie is never really pinned down to a particular number, we just know that she feels dumpy and requires clothing designed for ladies with a "curvier" figure.

What didn't work for me:  
  
The characters weren't particularly deep, but were still fleshed out enough for me to dislike most of them, with the exception of Jake. I felt sympathetic for him but really didn't "know" him beyond the fact that he worked a lot, loved soccer, and adored his family.

"Having It and Eating It" truly lives up to its title. The book seemed to be meant as a "grass is always greener" cautionary faerie tale, but the author doesn't really explore the moral of the story. The reader never sees Maggie paying the price for her poor judgment. Whether it's with a couples therapist or someone who specializes in post partum depression, Maggie is in need of some serious counseling.

Overall:

A quirky, enjoyable read, especially for fans of the current British Chick Lit craze or admirers of well-constructed prose. However, the plot is so infuriating that you might miss some of those beautifully written passages when skimming forward to find out what happens in the less-than-satisfactory conclusion of this tale.

Warning: there is some coarse language in this book, as well as some steamy love scenes.