Search results for ""Author Jackie Clune""

'Obligatory reading for all parents of teenagers!' NIGELLA LAWSON'Bloody marvellous. Horribly familiar, funny, touching, sad, brutally honest...clutch this book to your stained T-shirt and never let it go.' JO BRAND'Terrific. A remarkable blend of hilarity and heartbreak with a really satisfying plot. Being childless never felt so good.' GRAHAM NORTON'Warm and witty... The competitive mothering, the hell that is other people's children, the fights and accusations of Homeland inquisition all rang deliciously true... a most entertaining read.' KATHY LETTE'Very poignant... A moving read as well as a funny one.' JANE GARVEY 'Honest, hilarious and painful' WOMAN & HOMEWarning!! This novel may lead you to make rash and life-changing decisions!**Probably don't read if you fear you may be ripe for liberation. Or if you sometimes wee when you laugh...First there was Having It All, then there was Bridget Jones' s Diary and I Don't Know How She Does It. Now there is Teenage Punchbag.I'm Just A Teenage Punchbag is a laugh-out-loud, sob-on-the bus journey through the so-called life of a middle-aged woman.Ciara is mother to three ungrateful, entitled teenagers, is married to steady Martin, a man with hairy udders, and is grieving for her mum who now lives in the wardrobe in a cardboard box from the crematorium. She finds solace in her anonymous blog, and in the daily chats she has with her mum's ashes (often the best conversations she has all day.)Despite the menopause, the invisibility of middle age and the daily self-esteem bashings, courtesy of her kids, Ciara manages to navigate the stormy waters of grief and family life - until her mask slips and she is cast out from the family bosom. She embarks on a mission to fulfil her mum's dying wishes to have her remains sprinkled from the top of the Empire State Building, finding company, distraction and - ultimately - herself in the process.If motherhood is a job - who says you can't resign?

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**FROM ONE OF THE STARS OF BBC'S HIT SERIES MOTHERLAND**'Jackie Clune's writing always make me roar with laughter' NIGELLA LAWSON'A proper twisty turny plot' GRAHAM NORTON'Joyful... Charts lockdown beautifully' LOOSE ENDS'Humorous and hopeful' WOMAN'S WEEKLYLondon, March 2020. Angela is reeling from the sudden death of her husband Robert. As the world hunkers down against the pandemic, she and her two children - home from university - lock down in their grief and remembrance. Except Angela has this gnawing sensation, a tightness in her chest every time she thinks of Robert. He could be harsh, critical, often belittling in front of others. But he did his best - didn't he? He looked after them, even if he did make the decisions and laugh at her small ambitions. Even if he controlled most things in Angela's so-called life.As lockdown drags on with its do-gooder neighbours and their cake-baking and competitive Clapping for Carers, Angela makes a disturbing discovery on Robert's old phone: messages from a woman who clearly had a close relationship with her late husband. Enraged but liberated by the betrayal, Angela starts to reclaim her life.Until she runs into Zana. Zana, who appears to be watching her house. Zana, with her small child in tow. Zana, and her inexplicable connection to Robert...When Angela decides to help Zana she is forced to reframe her outlook, check her privilege and confront how exactly she plans to live the rest of her life. Slowly they build a relationship based on their mutual recognition, and when Zana introduces Angela to her friends at the local homeless mother and child hostel, she discovers a different, more hopeful, kind of family bubble.Wickedly dark but full of heart, this is a story of pulling together and finding love and connection in the most surprising of places.

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**FROM ONE OF THE STARS OF BBC'S HIT SERIES MOTHERLAND**'Jackie Clune's writing always make me roar with laughter' NIGELLA LAWSON'A proper twisty turny plot' GRAHAM NORTON'Joyful... Charts lockdown beautifully' LOOSE ENDS'Humorous and hopeful' WOMAN'S WEEKLYLondon, March 2020. Angela is reeling from the sudden death of her husband Robert. As the world hunkers down against the pandemic, she and her two children - home from university - lock down in their grief and remembrance. Except Angela has this gnawing sensation, a tightness in her chest every time she thinks of Robert. He could be harsh, critical, often belittling in front of others. But he did his best - didn't he? He looked after them, even if he did make the decisions and laugh at her small ambitions. Even if he controlled most things in Angela's so-called life.As lockdown drags on with its do-gooder neighbours and their cake-baking and competitive Clapping for Carers, Angela makes a disturbing discovery on Robert's old phone: messages from a woman who clearly had a close relationship with her late husband. Enraged but liberated by the betrayal, Angela starts to reclaim her life.Until she runs into Zana. Zana, who appears to be watching her house. Zana, with her small child in tow. Zana, and her inexplicable connection to Robert...When Angela decides to help Zana she is forced to reframe her outlook, check her privilege and confront how exactly she plans to live the rest of her life. Slowly they build a relationship based on their mutual recognition, and when Zana introduces Angela to her friends at the local homeless mother and child hostel, she discovers a different, more hopeful, kind of family bubble.Wickedly dark but full of heart, this is a story of pulling together and finding love and connection in the most surprising of places.

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'Obligatory reading for all parents of teenagers!' NIGELLA LAWSON'Bloody marvellous. Horribly familiar, funny, touching, sad, brutally honest...clutch this book to your stained T-shirt and never let it go.' JO BRAND'Terrific. A remarkable blend of hilarity and heartbreak with a really satisfying plot. Being childless never felt so good.' GRAHAM NORTON'Warm and witty... The competitive mothering, the hell that is other people's children, the fights and accusations of Homeland inquisition all rang deliciously true... a most entertaining read.' KATHY LETTE'Very poignant... A moving read as well as a funny one.' JANE GARVEY 'Honest, hilarious and painful' WOMAN & HOMEWarning!! This novel may lead you to make rash and life-changing decisions!**Probably don't read if you fear you may be ripe for liberation. Or if you sometimes wee when you laugh...First there was Having It All, then there was Bridget Jones' s Diary and I Don't Know How She Does It. Now there is Teenage Punchbag.I'm Just A Teenage Punchbag is a laugh-out-loud, sob-on-the bus journey through the so-called life of a middle-aged woman.Ciara is mother to three ungrateful, entitled teenagers, is married to steady Martin, a man with hairy udders, and is grieving for her mum who now lives in the wardrobe in a cardboard box from the crematorium. She finds solace in her anonymous blog, and in the daily chats she has with her mum's ashes (often the best conversations she has all day.)Despite the menopause, the invisibility of middle age and the daily self-esteem bashings, courtesy of her kids, Ciara manages to navigate the stormy waters of grief and family life - until her mask slips and she is cast out from the family bosom. She embarks on a mission to fulfil her mum's dying wishes to have her remains sprinkled from the top of the Empire State Building, finding company, distraction and - ultimately - herself in the process.If motherhood is a job - who says you can't resign?

Read more less