With irresistible humor, Fiona Neill reveals the dilemmas of marriage, motherhood, and the modern woman in her entertaining and intelligent debut novel. Inspired by her immensely popular weekly column in the British magazine The Times, "Slummy Mummy," The Secret Life of a Chaotic Mother, a Sunday Times bestseller, was highly praised by Anna Wintour. The editor-in-chief of American Vogue—who, it is said, inspired Meryl Streep's screen character in The Devil Wears Prada—describes the book as hilarious, a "literary phenomenon comparable to Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary." Indeed, the heroine of this delightful novel is as clumsy as her spinster predecessor, with one small difference: in her early 30s, Lucy Sweeney is married and has given up a promising career as a television producer to raise her three children in a London suburb. Motherhood, it turns out, is more treacherous than Lucy could have imagined. It's been years since Lucy last remembered to have sex with her husband, months since she last took her kids to school in pajamas. Far from perfect like the Hot Mom No. 1, much less hyper-competitive like the Alpha Mom, Lucy risks falling out of step with the methodical, stereotypical mothers of her children's schoolmates. And as if tidying up the domestic chaos wasn't enough, Lucy still finds time to sort out her friends' emotional dramas. But will they be able to help her when the Domesticated Sexy Dad enters the scene? What began as a carefree flirtation is about to turn into an extramarital affair, and now this flustered housewife wonders if, amidst dirty clothes, unfinished homework, and lost credit cards, the real Lucy Sweeney might be forgotten. Can she find herself—and in time? "Good-natured, quick-witted, and extremely intelligent." The Times “Neill enters the realm of modern women's literature with witty and charming prose, and weary parents will love the way she captures the harsh and maddening domesticity.” Washington Post “A sharply insightful comedy... her writing bubbles effortlessly. She has excellent comic timing.” Boston Globe
