2008-07-03 Some funny moments, but on the whole rather pointless

I picked up 'The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy' after I saw it had been on the Times' bestseller list and also had some glowing reviews from readers on the back. After ploughing through the 400+ pages, I had a distinct feeling of 'so what?'

For starters, Lucy Sweeney is not a completely likeable character. While this may not matter in a brilliantly written book, in 'Slummy Mummy' she grated on me and I found myself feeling exasperated at her stupidity and her bad decisions. Fiona Neill made it seem like once you become a mother, your ability to think sensibly goes out of the window. Added to that, the other characters were so vague that every time one of them appeared I found I had to go back to double check exactly who they were and what their relationship to Lucy was.

In terms of the story itself, it seems to jump from one storyline to another, only for them never to be mentioned again no matter how important they were at the time. It also feels very rushed, as if Neill was told to write this book as quickly as possible, and not worry too much about the quality of the story or the strength of the characters.

All in all, while this book is not horrible (there are some funny moments, hence the 2-stars) it just felt a bit pointless, and there are far superior 'chick-lit' writers out there (such as Sophie Kinsella), so I wouldn't recommend this book above others of the genre. Those with children may get more out of this book than a 26-year old newlywed with no children, such as myself.