I Don't Know How She Does It

When you are asked to name your favorite movies, do you fib and say, "Schindler's List," or "Sophie's Choice," because it makes you sound sophisticated and thoughtful? Are your TRUE favorite movies "Animal House" and "Airplane?" If so, even though you may not admit it to others, THIS will be one of your favorite books. I so loved the book and so saw myself and my friends in it that I gave a copy for the holidays to virtually EVERY professional woman/mother/friend I have. The book sucked me in right away when it described Kate - who has learned at the last minute that she is expected to bring homemade treats to her child's private school the next morning - "messing up" too-perfect bakery goodies and then transferring them to her own container to pass off as home-baked. Oh, the parental pressures of preschool and the disdain of the SAHMs for the over-taxed working mom! The single best scene in the book is when Kate is aboard an airplane, flying to New York for a work assignment and possibly for a romantic interlude, and she unexpectedly discovers that .... well, I won't spoil it for you, but it's a stitch! I want the author to write a second novel!!!

The book caught my attention with the early scene of Kate "distressing" a mince pie to make it look as if she made it. I have done something similar with chili in the not too distant past. (HINT: 10 cans of Hormel + 1 chopped onion + 1 chopped jalepeno (sp) pepper = 1 well received "homemade" potluck contribution). Unfortunately, I found myself wanting to shake her out of her competitive, self-absorbed circus. The book dragged a bit in the last third and the ending was a major disappointment as well.
Yet, as a working mom, there were some scenes that were classic. I laughed til I cried when her daughter drew a picture of her with "a lovely hat" that turned out to be roots. The description of the "Muffia" unfortunately rang true - although it seemed to me that the "Muffia" were merely stay-at-home Kates who were just competing in a different realm. I guess my disappointment is due to the fact that I was hoping for someone a bit more of a kindred spirit and less of a person I hope that I am never like.

Allison Pearson is a brave woman. She says what many mothers feel, but are afraid to say. It's hard being a working mother. It's hard being a mother, period. But can we really have it all? A high-flying career and a balanced family life? Unlike some other reviews I have read, I won't give away the ending to this book. But what I can say is that I realize what a struggle it is to be a mother. That's what this book is about. This book is about real life, like it or not. Of course, this book's ending may raise a few eyebrows, but that's what I liked about it. I loved the ending, I may not have made the same decision as Kate Reddy if I were her, but I respect her for it.
If you are a mother, plan on being one, have a mother, know a mother, or are just plain curious about motherhood, read this book. I commend Allison Pearson for writing about reality, not some storybook romance where everything is "happily ever after".

I enjoyed this book. Pearson accurately captures the brutal balancing act of a high powered mother/career woman. She also moves the reader with her descriptions of the miracle of children. One line-children are the answer to the riddle-stayed with me.
My only reservation about the book: it is not laugh out loud funny the entire time. I realize that it is not supposed to be and I respect the author for her choices. But even some of her humorous passages could have been sharper.
I would recommend this book for women who enjoy the Bridget Jones, Nanny Diaries genre. Pearson captures one demographic of the contemporary woman well. I would not recommend this book for women who want either too much humor or poignancy-Pearson balances both in this book as her heroine juggles mother and career.

Kate Reddy is not your typical working mother. She has a glamorous job (she admits she may go abroad three times a month) and has a minicab to pick her up to work instead of taking the Underground. She doesn't get treated as well as she likes, but she is very successful and well respected by most at her work place. She has a full time, live in nanny and enough money to hire whatever needs to be done. Because she is so lucky, I found her whining to be a lttle unrealistic and the sporadic illustrations of the difficult time women have in the of world of work to be a little sanctimonious. I was also disappointed to see her reject the man's world. I fully expected Kate to end up running her firm instead of leaving it because a woman with a family could never truly succeed in the environment. Nevertheless, this was a fun book to read, if only for the use of British terms.

It all seemed so everyday, a bit trite and neither so horrid or so glorious to make me feel that I was reading anything other than a woman's magazine take on things. A bit much "poor me". Unlikely and pat ending, the type available to only to those who really do have pretty much everything.
If you want the real, real picture .. sharp, human, true and although the humour is dry and a touch cynical,also funny, .. take a walk back in time to Fay Weldon writing decades ago, but still ringing true for this age. Try out a copy of Watching Me, Watching You,(stories and the novella"The Fat Women's Joke") and I guarantee you will be excited by the writing and teased by her unsentimental perceptions.

At times, I found this book really frustrating, because it seemed liked no one considered that there might be other options besides the mom working full time or the mom staying home full time. For example: Kate makes more than Richard, and they pay the nanny more than what Richard makes. Why not just have Richard stay home with the kids? But noooooo. Men are too muddle-headed to manage the lives of children, so that option is never even considered! But Kate does have a point about part-time work, as I am discovering: you get sucked in to more and more work (or you get hopelessly placed on the mommy track). Anyway, despite my frustrations with the lack of options--or maybe because of them--I was drawn into the book. I enjoyed the humor and the pathos, and I recommend this for all working mothers and those who have to work and live with them.

Allison Pearson can create snippets of dialog and churn out emails so hilarious that you'll wish she sat in the next cubicle so that you could swap caustic observations about your male co-workers. She can simulate a heartrending virtual romance and share poignant excerpts from a dead friend's manual entitled "Your Family: How it Woks!" But by the end of Part I (for no discernible reason-perhaps to give the reader a feeling of progress?-the book is divided into four parts) the relentless recitation of working mom anecdotes and foibles begins to wear on the reader.
The lazy but beloved (by the children) babysitter, the suffering but accommodating husband, the annoying and demanding children, the slimy male co-workers, the spirited friend, the inexplicably wise driver and the other caricatures that populate Kate's existence serve only as foils to Kate's predictable behavior. We are treated to page after page of Kate feeling guilty about escaping from her kids, canceling lunch dates with her friends, and ignoring her husband. We can anticipate the outcome of every amusing episode: we know Kate will walk out on a sick child so as not to miss a flight, forget a critical bit of home repair, invent lame excuses when she's late to a meeting, then fail to come up with a succinct putdown when a co-worker insults her.
Before very long, I began wondering how she managed to do so little, and do it so badly. Her inattention to her kids, exaggerated for comic effect, seemed sad and reprehensible rather than amusing. Though I am quite familiar with the subject matter of the book, I have only met one woman who is as callous about her kids as Kate (and I didn't have a whole lot of respect for her). And I couldn't understand why Kate bothered to do what she did. She mentioned owning a few cashmere sweaters, but it wasn't clear that she or her family received many benefits, material or otherwise, from her career.
My enjoyment of the book was also sullied by the author's insistence on harping on that old working-mom-vs-stay-at-home stereotype. Maybe life is different in London-maybe they don't have stay-at-home dads, or at-home moms who have meaningful albeit unpaid work, or employed moms who don't sacrifice their kids' wellbeing-but I quickly tired of the descriptions of the mom vs mom wars.
Heading into Part IV, I started wondering how Pearson would pull it all together. Suddenly, she introduces a few new characters (the old mum, the loser sister) and an intriguing plot twist. To get revenge on a particularly sleazy male co-worker, Kate assembles a crack team of moms and concocts an elaborate ploy. The book suddenly holds new promise, but by then we're in the home stretch. The plot twist fizzles into nothingness, ditto the virtual romance, Kate abruptly quits her job, reunites with her incredibly accommodating husband, and moves back to be near mum. A disappointing conclusion to a rather thin book.
Pearson is a terrific writer, droll, with a great sense of comic timing. I look forward to reading her next book-hoping that she'll eschew the cheap tricks in favor of great characters and a stronger plot.

I listened to friends tell me how hilarious this book was so I kept reading, hoping something interesting would happen, something at least REAL! I'm supposed to muster up sympathy for this supposedly brilliant woman who is a shark in the world of business but at home is afraid of her nanny and her housekeeper? It all seemed so absolutely silly and inane! And what was so funny about the high-school highjinks this crowd of female corporate geniuses pulled on the their co-worker after he put up nude composites of a fellow female work-mate on the internet? This was the best they could come up with?? Are you telling me you have to destroy your own career in order to get even? You know what it reminded me of? That movie "9 to 5" with Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda. Without the charm.

Kate Reddy is the classic workaholic with two kids and a doting husband. Urged on by a need to give her children a better life than she had, she juggles the two opposing parts of her life. Family and career face off at every turn. Almost every working mom can relate to this book. From the guilt you feel leaving your babies in someone else's care to the high you experience after kicking butt at work, most moms can find something familiar to laugh at.

Wow, this first novel is a goodie, written in diary-like first person narrative of Kate, mother of two living the good life and struggling to hold it all together: perfect kids, perfect job, perfect house, perfect marriage. She wants all that she has, wants still more, and knows the price on marriage, family, and self. But instead of being a downer, it's all told with high intelligence and humor, many laugh-aloud moments and some touching ones, and, for good measure, the men are often pretty good guys instead of insensitive cads.
Even if you think you ought to be turned off by this book, even if it sounds like a light fluffy beach read, well, read it anyway. You'll be delightfully surprised.

Ever since Bridget Jones hit it big, the publishing industry has been flooding the market with British novels written by young, bright-eyed Brits who are terribly funny and slightly pretentious. What was original and fun in Bridget Jones is now stale and preachy in I Don't Know How She Does It.
Kate Reddy is a working mother who juggles a demanding career in the stock market industry, raising her two young children, and trying to be a good wife to her husband. The few funny moments of this book are overshadowed by Kate's frenetic pace. I was literally exhausted just reading this book. Interwoven with her busy schedule is Kate's - and Allison Pearson's, probably - views on motherhood, children, and husbands. Perhaps, as a childfree person, I am not the target audience for this one. I, for one, am slightly offended by the author's implications. The moral of the story, as far as I could see was: Women are nothing without children and men are nothing without women. Two gross statements that are so untrue it's not even funny. I kept on reading this one in hopes of finding one humorous morsel in a book being hyped as the Bridget Jones for the working married woman (now I know why good, old Bridget calls them "dull marrieds"), but found myself hating each and every one of the characters in this book (except, perhaps, for the man trying to coerce Kate into an affair - the novel would have been decidedly more interesting if she had gone ahead with the affair). I just didn't care by the end of it, and was thoroughly disgusted with how the novel wrapped up. Kate, having decided that children are the "meaning of life", leaves her career and spends her days in her new country home, thinking sad, sympathetic thoughts about her co-worker, Momo, who is "terribly naive" because she doesn't want children (gasp)! Take it from me, this book may by the "it" book of the season, but it's a waste of your money - there are better books out there, and better authors. I hope Ms. Pearson decides that she is better off raising her children instead of writing.

I loved this book. As a working mother who travels weekly and who works many hours over 40 when not traveling, I identified strongly with Kate. The issue with most critics seems to be portrayal of the more technical aspects of her job or the book's ending. The point is that not everyone can make the same choices, work, travel, stay home, adjust your career for children, but we all have choices to make. Perhaps for a season or perhaps for a lifetime, women are in charge of their choices and need to realize what is important. The book would have been boring indeed if it just reflected the technical facts of Kate's job. I still think in the end, the character remained true to her innermost struggle and came out with the best resolution for herself and her family. Would that everyone could have such an outcome. I highly recommend to every woman, young and old, those who work inside and outside of the home and with and without children. I think we can all find areas to identify with and at least learn about someone else's struggles.

Katy Reddy defines the working mother in today's world! Being a working mother myself, this book was hard to escape with in the beginning. After a day at the stressful office and then coming home to read the first two chapters, I felt so overwhelmed with Katy's e-mails & to-do lists I could only stop to create my own to-do list's and respond to my own very full e-mail in-box. However, I continued on and after getting to know this working mother a little more, I learned to feel relaxed while reading, regardless of all of the stress that Katy was experiencing. I also found the British humor hilarious and found myself laughing out loud on several occasions. I think this book proves that it's near impossible to have it all. Thanks to a friend for purchasing this great gift for my BIRTHDAY!

However, let's start on a positive note. I loved the very British sensability of this novel. I loved Kate Reddy's extremely wry sense of humor (I chuckled, not laughed, but chuckled aloud throughout the book.) Having said that, though, there was nothing else I could relate to in this book. I am not a working mother with two young children who can't find enough hours in the day as Kate Reddy is. I do not hold down a very high powered job in the world of high finance and investments. This again is Kate Reddy's world. The author did nothing to make me feel like I was a part of the story. I was trapped in Kate's day-timer, forced to read journal entries and her notes to self. The whole effect was very choppy and I constantly found myself wishing that the writing were more descriptive so I would have something to sink my teeth into.
A good author will draw the reader in by developing the characters well, or describing the situations to the point where the reader feels like he/she is an active participant, not just a passive reader of words written on a page. I didn't particularly care for any of the characters in this novel, I just read about them with about as much interest as I would read a cereal box because that is all the author gave me to go on. I do not understand what all the hubub that surrounds this book is about.

I really enjoyed this books' insights into the life of a working mom. I was stressed and exhausted while reading; it felt that real. The internal dialogue going on in this book is excellent and honest! Personally, I don't know how anyone could live a life like the one portrayed here.
I was loving the book until the very end. I was irritated by the rushed, movie-like, big bang (which really wasn't that much of a bang!) ending. The author tries to close all the loose ends in the story lines, which I think is ridiculous. What starts out as a thought-provoking look at the life(s) a working mom has, ends up being a lukewarm re-hash of sticking it to someone. I fully admire the choice that Kate makes in the end; but I didn't need the final "closure" that the author tries to make. It felt weak and contrived and left me disappointed. What mom, stay-at-home or working, has neat and tidy, closed ends anyway?
Four stars because the first 80% of the book is a fantastic portrayal of the inner-workings of an over-scheduled woman with no time for her kids, her husband or herself!

While Pearson does a remarkable job of describing the nearly impossible juggling act that is required of working mothers, I wish she had created a character that I could sympathize with. I couldn't stand Kate Reddy. She was horrible to her husband, condescending to her co-workers, and short-tempered with her children. When she began her email adultery, I absolutely couldn't stand her anymore. I just kept thinking that the whole family would be better off without her.
As a single mother myself, I was thrilled to see such a talented author illustrate the complexity of managing career and family--- except that Kate didn't really manager her family. Instead, she criticized the way her husband and nanny did things. By the time the novel ended, I didn't care what Kate did. I just felt sorry for everyone who had to live with her.

This book is on the reading list of every working mother I know. How will they find the time to read it?
Kate Reddy is a hedge fund manager with a husband, a fixer-upper townhouse and two children. She also has a surly nanny, a judgemental mother-in-law, some great friends and her very own philosopher/cab-driver. There's also a poetic and handsome American client. The novel deals with Kate's efforts to balance her responsibilities to her job, her kids and her marriage. It perfectly captures the juggling act required of most working mothers. I chuckled and gasped many time in recognition. This is the ideal summer read - fast-paced, funny and honest.
My one criticism is that the novel presents only two options for Kate through most of the book - high-stress job with lots of travel or no job at all. Most working mothers fall somewhere in between.

Because of my unconsummated love for Allison Pearson's husband, the brilliant New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane, I had to read this book, hoping for insights into her marriage and husband. As I'd expect, she is whip-smart and funny, just as he is.
But my boy Anthony is concise, while wife is a bit verbose. The edge of her humor dulled a bit as she stretched what should be a thin novel to over 300 pages. Case in point: did she have to include two scenes in which Kate "distresses" store-bought baked goods in attempt to pass them off as her own?
And, like most readers, I found it hard not to respond by saying it's not hard to do it when you've got a full-time nanny, a cleaning lady, and wads o' cash!

Allison Pearson's debut novel was a surprise to me. I was expecting a laugh riot yarn about a working mother trying to juggle her career and family, not a book that actually strikes quite an emotional chord and presents a heroine that's not always likable, but quite honest in her portrayal.
Kate Reddy is an English woman who works as a hedge fund manager. She's very successful at her job, so much so she hardly gets any time with her two young children and husband. Her witty voice brings to mind Bridget Jones, and her situations, "The Nanny Diaries". At first I wasn't sure I was really going to like the novel because I found myself reacting to her in a negative light. But as the novel progressed, I found myself having a greater understanding and empathy for the character. Allison Pearson has written an entertaining story that should also provoke some interesting discussions about not just working mothers, but working parents in general.

This is one of the most entertaining stories I have read in a long time. As a Mother who worked when my 3 children were young, I could completely relate to her hectic schedule, and the guilt she felt for missing so much of the precious time of babyhood and childhood. Her humerous description of life during this period had me smiling and laughing throughout the book. Her missed lunches and dates with her female friends were so accurate,good intentions always but never enough time. In the final pages she had me afraid that she had thrown in the towell, but all turned out well. I shall be watching for other works from Alison, with great anticipation. Wonderful. talented author.

Allison Pearson's debut novel was a surprise to me. I was expecting a laugh riot yarn about a working mother trying to juggle her career and family, not a book that actually strikes quite an emotional chord and presents a heroine that's not always likable, but quite honest in her portrayal.
Kate Reddy is an English woman who works as a hedge fund manager. She's very successful at her job, so much so she hardly gets any time with her two young children and husband. Her witty voice brings to mind Bridget Jones, and her situations, "The Nanny Diaries". At first I wasn't sure I was really going to like the novel because I found myself reacting to her in a negative light. But as the novel progressed, I found myself having a greater understanding and empathy for the character. Allison Pearson has written an entertaining story that should also provoke some interesting discussions about not just working mothers, but working parents in general.

This is one of the most entertaining stories I have read in a long time. As a Mother who worked when my 3 children were young, I could completely relate to her hectic schedule, and the guilt she felt for missing so much of the precious time of babyhood and childhood. Her humerous description of life during this period had me smiling and laughing throughout the book. Her missed lunches and dates with her female friends were so accurate,good intentions always but never enough time. In the final pages she had me afraid that she had thrown in the towell, but all turned out well. I shall be watching for other works from Alison, with great anticipation. Wonderful. talented author.

Kate Reddy is a woman going to a hundred different directions at the same time. She is trying to be a mother, wife, employee, and a friend alll at the same time and she is failing them all. So starts her journey to see what is more important to Kate and what she might have to give to have it all.

This is the first book by Allison Pearson and after seeing her on the "Today Show" when the book first came out I couldn't wait to read it. The beginning was good, but I found the ending to be a neat. Ms. Pearson seem wrap up the story just a little too well. But for a plane ride or a day at the beach this book will do nicely.

I'm frankly embarrassed for the (presumably female)reviewers who say they've taken offense to this book's main character and theme. You give yourselves away; hate to say it, but I've never heard a man get all bent out of shape (emotionally wounded?) about a fictional character because "that's not me or anyone I know." I saw the word "agenda" in a few of those reviews. Oh get over it. Are Reddy and her judgements and actions a bit to the extreme? Sure. That's why they call it FICTION. That's why her FICTIONAL life is a bestselling story and your real life isn't. Your real life wouldn't be interesting enough!:) I only saw one review that acTually criticised the mechanics/writing style of the book and not just the book's supposed agenda.

That said, I'm not a big fan of the Bridget Jones genre (not as a main literary diet anyway), but this book gave me a funny, entertaining and quick read when I wanted it. The character was complex enough to keep me reading; She was very human in her thoughts and feelings; I understood her though I disagreed with many of her thoughts and actions.

The ending (won't spoil it) seemed a bit tacked on; it came almost too quickly and easily once I got there, hence the lack of another star. And for me, occasionally the witty banter of the cab driver seemed a bit contrived. But, oh well. Overall I liked it. Would recommend it to anyone but an overly sensitive friend who is always looking for the "agenda".

This book is entertaining, although I'm not entirely sure what the point of the book is.

Without giving away the ending, I'll just say that what it seems to be saying in the beginning, loses all steam at the end, leaving the reader wondering what the point was.

I am a working mom, and my first reaction to the book was "Wow, I shouldn't feel so bad about my shortcuts!" I felt an empathy, and a sisterhood with the lead character. But eventually her incredible selfishness took that over, and I didn't overly like her.

The story is witty, but not "laugh out loud" witty. I smiled a few times.

I bought this book at the Houston airport, in one of the 9 trips that kept me away from home, my husband and my 1 1/2 year old baby girl 22 days in that single month.

I almost start crying at gate B forty something(and this is a very funny book! I swear!, but this part...) reading the very first chapter, when Kate is trying to make some pies she just bought look "home made" by pressing them, because her daughter has an event the next day and she doesn't want to have her little girl be the one who's mommy didn't have time to bake something. When her husband comes down (4 am) and tells her no one is expecting her (Kate) to do that, and she answers "I am!", I had this feeling that I was looking myself in a mirror.

Different culture (I'm Mexican), different personalities, very different job, and not always what I would have done, but I identified with every fear, every joy, every truthful confession, every inner conflict of the character. The only thing that makes me sad is that I doubt I'll find another novel I will like this much; I might find some that are excellent, but I don't believe it will be easy to have that "mirror" experience again.

Ms. Pearson, if you read this stuff: Excelente, Felicidades... y Muchas Gracias directly from Mexico.

Can someone believe that this woman who earns enough to support her father's debits, pay even riding lessons for her nanny, armani suits, cannot simply ask her Oh so precious nanny to homebake pies for the school or even contract a baker to do it? How about her husband, why don't he bake thoses pies? Is he a dad or is he dead? The daughter is his also. As for me, living in AZ, USA, all the schools that my kids attended simply PROHIBIT any home baking goods, can only bring store bought ones (Serious! ), I couldn't be more happy. I give 3 stars because that issue about her mother-in-law asking why her son is thinner/tired etc rings true. I don't know why this PTA issue is so famous to be written, I have kids at school, PTA meeting occur only 2 in half an year, Christmas program, only once an year, it is not that much to busy a working mother like that, by the way, Mrs. Reddy could even pay well her "poor"mother to care for the kids. I think her story is so exaggerated, she earns well to wear Armani,rides taxi everyday, could even have a Fleet of nannies to do it all for her.

This book is better birth control than an afternoon at the Park Slope Food Coop (habitat of the undisciplined bobo brat). The endless hassles and humiliations that make up Kate Reddy's days juggling high-powered career, kids and husband gave me a case of heartburn and elevated blood pressure just from turning the pages. Pearson's zany plot twists verge on sadism, even if the character's decision to sell her soul so completely for cash renders her unsympathetic from the start. For a certain tiny, VERY privileged slice of society, the horrors of Kate's life may approach reality. But, like hemorrhoids or cockroach mating habits, are such mundane yet unpleasant subjects worth reading about if they're not rendered by a master? This is only middling work, and I can't imagine a harried mother would want to spend her free time reliving the worst moments of her life. Quick, someone, tie my tubes!

I read this book afer a recommendation and I have to admit, I laughed out loud many times ! Kate Reddy has it all, a husband, 2 children, a full-time job and just not enough hours in her day ! Sound familiar ?? Well, sit back and laugh, cry and relate to this busy, over stressed woman going through her daily routine ! I loved her "to-do lists" at the end of each chapter. Well written, this British woman makes you understand the constant pulls on her time, dealing with a male-dominated workforce and the local "Muffia" (those fulltime stay at home moms who can simultaneously make homemade pies while handmaking clothes.....you know the type !) A must read for all us working mothers.....if anything to show us we aren't alone ! You'll soon be saying "I don't know how she does it !"

Any working mother--or, to be more precise, any mother who has a job outside the home--can identify with Kate Reddy, a woman who seems to have it all (a great job, a good marriage, and two beautiful, healthy children) and constantly hears the sound of balls crashing while she attempts to balance the demands of her seemingly-perfect life.

Allison Pearson's portrayal of Kate is realistic and, for the most part, engaging. But I hated the end of the novel. Millions of women around the world manage--albeit with difficulty and great sacrifices--to balance marriage, children and career. Allison Pearson does. I do. So do many of my girlfriends. Why can't Kate Reddy do it too?

This was fun chick lit but the ultimate message it imparts is that women must have their own business to hope for work/life balance. The truth is that a high-powered corporate job is often incompatible with being a hands-on mom. The only real "aha" for Kate was discovering that but then she went with an "all or nothing" solution and ignored the financial realities she'd talked about in the past. I didn't really like Kate as a character and a person. She was not true to herself, her family or her marriage. She lacked integrity and I wasn't sure she achieved it, even at the end.

Unlike many of the other readers, I wasn't shocked by the ending. Kate's detiorating marriage and her struggle to have quality time with her children clearly hinted, I thought, that all was not 'well' and she was not really happy, despite her high-powered career. I found her character quite self-centered at times, but the author balanced this with enough sympathetic episodes that I still found her likeable.
I didn't think the author was trying to tell all working moms they had made a bad choice, but rather shone a light on a out-of-balance life where no one in the family was really happy with the current situation. I kept hoping Kate would wake up and realize that it wasn't just her husband and children who were unhappy, SHE was unhappy too.

Allison Pearson's first novel is FANTASTIC. You won't be able to put it down. I think it's one of the best books I've ever read, and I'm a fairly tough critic (although, in fairness, I probably just don't review the stuff I think is lousy). She captures the madness of working motherhood and marriage, and is a very very funny writer, with a great ear for dialogue and eye for scene. There's one episode in the book, where Kate is reading something, that will move you to tears, I'm sure, so have the Kleenex handy, but otherwise, be prepared to laugh and nod a lot. Enjoy!

Warning: this book can induce symptoms of fatigue, crankiness, panic and sadness! While being a quick and witty read, I Don't Know How She Does It expresses so eloquently the main character's pain at juggling her career as a cut throat fund manager and her role as a mother, the reader feels those emotions as their own.

Kate Reddy, a married mother of two, living in wealthy North London, is a director at a top financial firm. Trying desperately to hold on to her seniority at work, she finds herself caught between two half lives of domesticity and big business. While initially it can be difficult to sympathize with Kate, who complains constantly and appears somewhat of a martyr in her determination not to relinquish her control over everything, her self imposed frenzy becomes more believable as the reader realizes that it is part of Kate's flawed but lovable character. There is a good dose of humor thrown in when the going gets a little too tough for this to be a lighthearted read. - funnier moments reveal Kate scrabbling to fake home made mince pies for the School Christmas bake sale, revealing her lacy Agent Provocateur bra to the boardroom and discovering that her husband has mistakenly dressed the baby in a doll's outfit.

Nevertheless this is a cautionary tale for those of us who plan to " do it all", as the moral of the story is; it is best to do something well, than do everything badly. I Don't Know How She Does It is a refreshing change from the tired literary genre of self obsessed twenty some things trying to find a man and make it big. Kate Reddy gives those of us who haven't yet reproduced a glimpse into the future of career and family and gives working mothers a shoulder to cry on.

Wow! I was reading first pages of this book, laughing and crying simultaneously. If I hadn't left my job at one of big consulting firms a week ago, I would be really tempted to do it, affected by the book. So, the beginning was promising, funny, smart and as real as it gets in the real life of any working mother. I really enjoyed it and was ready to give to Kate well-deserved five stars, but...

The second half of the book is disappointing. The humor of most situations is wearing down, and author repeats herself. What's worse, she is getting into all those antifeminist discussions (I may or may not agree with them, but they certainly do not make the book more readable and convincing). Towards the end, it feels more and more like The Manifest of Modern Women. I could feel the presence of the new (anti?)feminist revolution ghost walking on the roads of Europe.

Three stars - and please, if you are still compelled to read the book, save your money and borrow the book from the library.

There is so little interesting fiction written about the struggle working parents have I was hopeful for the read. It's worth reading for the well-written paragraphs that do sum up a working woman's emotions about leaving a sick child, watching your baby cry as you leave and spending time away from family. I also identified with her passion for her career and managing the home details. Why is it so hard to understand that a woman can also WANT to work or not want to stay at home? Her best writing was when she questioned the double standards in our society about mom/dad roles and what is expected. How many of us have had to put up with the in-law remarks and all the double standards that come down so hard on women? Loved the analysis of stay at home moms as I have encountered all of those women and still don't understand why they hate women who work. I will never understand why men aren't asked "Why don't you want to stay home and raise your kids?" Agree with all the criticism from other reviews but guess I was so desperate to read about another working mum, I was willing to wade through the issues and applaud the good bits. Would enjoy a male viewpoint.

Allison Pearson hit a home run with this novel! Every working mother with a husband and children will find something to like about this book. I could definitely relate. I found myself laughing hysterically in some places and wanting to cry in others. I felt Kate's inner turmoil as she struggled to turn it on at work, then turn it off to become a totally different person at home. That was powerful to read. Even more powerful and touching were the times that the main character was unable to turn it off and on at will. It's a well written book that demonstrates the complexity of the lives of professional working women today trying to have it all and do it all. It also brings into question whether having it all is really worth it.

There are some very, very funny moments in this book. However, as this book continued, this character rang false for me, which detracted substantially from the humor. Kate is a caricatured composite of a "career woman" combined with a grab-bag of anecdotes about what can go wrong when one tries to combine family life with a high-powered career. It is as if a group of women sat around swapping clever quotes, jokes and horror stories about career moms, then tacked them all rather awkwardly into this story.

At the beginning I was willing to go with it as a story about the "days where everything goes horribly wrong". But this character consistently makes choices that do not make any sense in the real world, which, as far as I can tell, is just meant to make the plot spin more and more out of control. Since I don't know any mom who would make the bizarre, nonsensical choices this character continuously makes, after a while this just read like a somewhat mean-spirited cautionary fable, meant to convince women not to try to "have it all". Why is hubby sitting around while mom (who is out of town much more often) acts as gatekeeper, insisting that she controls the nanny, the shopping and the other domestic organization? Why is she so concerned about what the stay at home moms will think about her school bake-sale contribution, while caring so little about the actual mental and physical well-being of her kids? Why is she still acting like a single career gal who hasn't had to rethink her entire priority list, organizational plan and way of living?

For all of the real women I know who combine a career with motherhood (and for their spouses), pregnancy and having a first child meant a radical rethinking of how life worked--it meant bending a lot of the rules so that the system didn't break. I have a 5 and 2 year old...and a highly demanding career I love in a tough, male dominated field. It is wonderful and workable. While occasionally things will spin out of control, it seems completely non-sensical that anyone would just continue to unthinkingly and miserably rush through an unsustainable lifestyle that is no fun on either end, no good for the kids, the spouse or herself, without doing a lot of hard thinking about how to better balance things to make life workable.

Supposedly this woman has a 5 and 1 year old, so she's certainly had plenty of time for such a rethinking. Eventually, this strained Kate's credibility beyond my ability to enjoy her tale or relate to her. As far as I can tell, the answer to the questions I've just posed is that it is all just a plot device: in the end, (SPOILER ALERT!) the whole life-spinning-out-of-control does just break down, Kate gives up her high profile career, and she discovers she is so much happier. What a shame that Kate is still basically the same person at the end as the beginning...no more self-awareness, no more ability to do things based on her own sense of self and priorities, and to shelve the guilt and need to meet other people's diverse expectations about who she is. What a pointless exercise and wasted opportunity...

After reading depressing novels in English, I read this book over a long weekend and I found it a great book for light reading. I love her to do lists (did she ever get her highlights re-done?) and how she gets herself publicly embarassed. Everything was just great except that I found the ending rather disappointing. For most parts, she is the perfect role model for every woman, including those who do not have a job!

I read this book because of the kids, unfortunately there wasn't enough about the kids to make it worth my while.
A woman is torn between her job and her kids. She finds joy from both. In my opinion, there is no question about this. I feel the parent should stay with the children, especially while the children are young. It not only benefits the child, but also the adult.
I had a difficult time getting through this book,
mainly because the sentences were jammed too full, trying to prove that this woman was too busy. It didn't seem realistic.
I gave this book a 2 and a half stars:)

Alison Pearson creates an archetype in Kate Reddy. With great care and emotion, Pearson guides us through a world of emotionally stunted financial types, overpaid nannies, needy-cherished-and-deeply-missed children, competitive stay-at-home moms, family, friendship, dreamy internet romance, and real-life marriage.

Unlike other reviewers who seem to want to tell the rest of us what great mothers they are, I will actually focus on the book. I've actually read it twice, the first time because a friend recommended it, then again as part of a book club. The two readings were about two years apart. The first time I read it, I was angered by the ending- how dare Kate quit her job- she caved! When I read it the second time, I saw quitting her job as the ultimate act of love to her self and her family.

From the beautifully crafted descriptions of a mother's love for her child, to her laugh out loud funny lines about the workplace and the modern working woman, she gets right to the heart of what it means to be a woman in today's world with all the temptations, dilemmas,impossible standards, and heartache that go along with it.

It's easy to pass judgement on Kate Reddy, most of the reviewers in this forum have, but you must remember that she is a FICTIONAL character (an archetype or composite) who acts as a mirror to many of us.

This was a heartbreaking and, ultimately, uplifting book.

As a working mother of two girls who are constantly getting colds, demanding Bagel Bites, requiring clean paint brushes and spilling cat food, I completely related to Kate's plight. I haven't been quite as tortured by guilt since I work at home (I may be around, but I do have to rely on TV babysitting when I'm on a deadline), but the combined pressures of work and family have certainly forced me to forget things like where I parked the car and how much money I had in the bank. I hope I can maintain a sense of humor about it all. Reading this novel was a sharing the pain evening for me. I enjoyed it thoroughly.