I don’t know how she does it! By Allison Pearson.
I have veered away from any interviews with SJP or reviews of the film. I gather that some people thought it was a bit OTT and not a great or even accurate picture of a working mother. I on the other hand thoroughly enjoyed the book. The great thing about reading over films is that you perceive things more individually, you picture the characters, the expressions, the places and the feelings differently.
Kate Reddy, who is a mother of two small children, who finds herself jetting around the world for work, constantly rearranging lunch with her best friend because she is so busy, loving her job although spending more time than enough feeling the need to prove herself as a professional still despite the fact that she has to do pelvic floor muscles.
Kate loves her work, doesn’t feel that she is someone or even herself if not working yet hurts terribly when she sees that her nanny knows more about the kids than she does. Some parts of the books are quite amusing and had me nodding in sympathy or running off to add things to my own ongoing to-do lists like Kate does. Other parts made me feel rather sad.
This book is a blown up / exaggerated version of many women’s lives. Not many of us are jest setting around the world, screaming at our husband because we feel so guilty, missing birth parties and having our breasts oggled because we are seen as Mumsy types in the workplace, but many do feel the pinch of the juggle between life and work and feel the guilt.
I work from home full-time and I struggle sometimes with the juggling act, I imagine parents working outside the home feel much the same at times. Do you?
This is a book that I think you have to read and decide about yourself. I’d definitely say book before movie (I always do!), because I really believe that’s the best way to explore a story. If you’ve read it, tell me what you think.
I don’t know how she does it is published by Vintage Books, has a RRP of £7.99 and is available at all good bookshop and also on Amazon (£4.99 at the time of publishing this post).
I’d like to read this even though my job is also largely from home and also at various local colleges (teaching English). Not high powered (nor highly paid) but I still have that internal guilt thing – make a proper dinner or another billable hour at the computer (or unbillable prepping lessons which still needs to be done). Clean something, laundry, work, pay bills, play with DD for a while – all need to be done and not enough hours in the day.